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ARBITRATION 


BETWEEN 


CAPITAL  AND  LABOR, 


A  HISTORY  AND  AN  ARGUMENT; 


DANIEL    J.    RYAN. 


"If  there  be  those  who  would  array  Labor  against  Capital,  I  am  not  of 
them,  nor  with  them.  If  there  be  those  who  regard  the  interests  of  Labor 
and  of  Capital  as  naturally  and  properly  antagonistic,  I  do  not  agree  with 
them."  — Horace  Greeley. 


COLUMBUS,   O. : 

1885. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1885,  by 

Daniel  J.  Ryan, 

In  the  Office  of  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Preas  of  Nitschke  Bros,, 
Columbus.  O. 


^3 
SH3I 


TO 


JOSEPH    D.    WEEKS, 


OF    PITTSBURGH. 


PREFACE. 


THIS  volume  was  written  during  the  spare 
hours  of  a  legislative  session.  It  is  not 
presented  to  the  public  as  a  work  of 
literary  excellence  or  of  brilliant  originality. 
The  principles  advocated  herein  are  neither  new 
nor  untried. 

It  is  my  desire  to  offer  a  plain  statement,  in  a 
historical  and  argumentative  way,  of  the  value 
and  necessity  of  the  peace  principle  of  arbitra- 
tion in  settling  disputes  between  capital  and 
labor. 

Events  are  daily  transpiring  which  are  crowd- 
ing to  the  front  the  importance  of  amicably 
adjusting  the  controversies  of  workingmen  and 
their  employers.  Their  dissensions  are  operating 
injustice  and  damage  to  both  sides  and  to  society 
at  large.      There   is  danger   in    their  occurrence 


vi.  preface:. 

and  continuance,  and  the  conservative  friends 
of  social  order  see  in  these  conflicts  a  subject 
worth}'  of  the  gravest  consideration.  What  shall 
be  done,  is  a  great  and  pressing  problem.  It  is  a 
matter  wliich  affects  more  living  persons  than 
an\'  othef  question  with  which  our  race  has  to 
deal.  It  is  one  of  the  broadest  humanity.  It  is 
not  simph'  a  question  that  deals  with  dollars, 
wages,  strikes,  and  riots;  it  deals  with  human 
wants,  sufferings,  affections,  and  grief.  Centuries 
of  strife  have  failed  to  solve  it.  A  few  recent 
years  of  peaceful  methods,  such  as  described  in 
these  pages,  have  accomplished  more  than  all  the 
past. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  volume,  I  have 
experienced  no  little  difficulty  from  the  paucit}^ 
of  material  in  American  literature,  for  informa- 
tion upon  the  subject  which  it  treats.  With  the 
exception  of  the  valuable  Report  on  Arbitration 
and  Conciliation  in  Enc/land,  by  Mr.  Joseph  D. 
Weeks,  tliere  has  been  nothing  complete  published 
in  this  country.  Tlie  principle  and  practice  of 
arbitration  in  trade  disputes  has  received  much 
attention  from  tlie  social  ('('()iiomists,  statesmen, 
Wdikingmen,  and  capitalists  of  England.     Hence, 


PREFACE.  Vll. 

the  reader  will  find  that  almost  all  of  the  evi- 
dence as  to  its  operations  and  success  come  from 
English   sources. 

I  am  under  deep  obligations  to  Mr.  Weeks  on 
account  of  a  free  recourse  to  his  report,  and  for 
personal  views  obtained  from  him,  and  I  am  also 
indebted  to  Ex-Senator  Wallace,  of  Clearfield, 
Pa.,  for  favors  connected  herewith. 

I  have  found  in  my  investigations  the  follow- 
ing works  of  vast  benefit  in  properly  studying 
the  question  of  voluntary  arbitration,  and  I 
recommend  them  to  those  who  desire  to  examine 
this  subject:  The  State  in  Relation  to  Labor,  by 
W.  Stanley  Jevons;  The  Question  of  Labor  and 
Cajyital,  by  John  B.  Jervis;  Oyi  Work  and  Wages, 
by  Sir  Thomas  Brassy;  On  Labor,  by  W.  T. 
Thornton;  Trades  Unions,  by  William  Trant;  The 
History  and  Development  of  Guilds,  and  the  Origin 
of  Trades  Unions,  by  L.  Brentano;  Tlieory  of 
Political  Economy,  by  W.  Stanley  Jevons;  Eco- 
nomic Position  of  the  British  Laborer,  by  Henr}^ 
Fawcett;  The  Social  Law  of  Labor,  by  William  B. 
Weeden ;  Reports  of  the  Condition  of  the  Industrial 
Classes  in  Foreign  Countries,  London,  bSTO;  Con- 
flicts of  Labor  and   Capital,   by   George   Howell; 


Vlll.  PREFACE. 

Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  for  the 
States  of  Oliio,  Pennsylvania,  and  Massachusetts, 
and  Report  of  Committee  on  Trades  Societies,  in  the 
Proceedings  of  the  National  Association  for  the 
Promotion  of  Social  Science,  London,  1860. 

With  these  words,  this  work  is  submitted  to 
the  consideration  of  an  appreciative  public. 

DANIEL    J.    RYAN. 
Port'' mouth,  0.,  April,  1885. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTERS  — 

I.  The  Failure  and  Fallacy  of  Strikes 1 

II.  Voluntary  Arbitration,  Its  Methods  and  Operations.  18 

III.  Arbitration  in  France  and  Belgium;   The  "  Conseils 

des  Prud'hommes ;"  The  Arbitration  Act  of  Austria,  38 

IV.  Anthony   John   Mundella,    the   Founder  of   English 

Arbitration 49 

V.  Rise  and  Development  of  English  Industrial  Arbitra- 

tion    56 

VI.  Voluntary  Arbitration  in  the  United  States     77 

VII.  Trades  Unions  and  Arbitration 91 

APPENDIX  — 

I.  Arbitration  in  the  English  Trades 101 

II.  Specimen  of  an  American  Arbitration  Board 105 

III.  A  Bundle  of  Letters  on  the  Subject 112 

IV.  The  Ohio  Arbitration  Act 120 


CHAPTER    I. 


THE    FAILURE   AND    FALLACY  OF    STRIKES. 


THE  protracted  and  bitter  struggles  between 
workmen  and  employers  known  as  strikes, 
form  a  subject  worthy  of  special  consider- 
ation in  treating  upon  the  matter  of  arbitration. 
Their  failure  and  inefficiency  in  producing  profit- 
able results  present  an  impressive  lesson  to  labor, 
as  well  as  a  powerful  argument  for  an  appeal  to 
the  methods  of  peace  and  law,  in  settling  in- 
dustrial difficulties.  A  writer,  whose  official  and 
personal  opportunities  have  given  him  the  right 
to  speak  with  authority  on  this  subject,  has  this 
to  say  concerning  it: 

"How  do  strikes  originate?  The  history  of 
one  in  its  general  features  is  the  history  of  all. 
A  number  of  men  working  for  a  firm  or  company, 
through  their  daily  conversation  become  imbued 
with  the  belief  that  they  should  have  an  advance 
of  wages;    a  meeting  is  called  for  some  evening, 


2  ARBITRATION. 

the  matter  is  discussed,  and  finally  a  committee 
is  instructed  to  respectfully  demand  of  the  em- 
ployers an  advance  of  wages.  The  demand  is 
refused  or  ignored,  and  no  attempt  at  communi- 
cation with  the  men  is  made  by  the  employer. 
The  men  become  morose  and  sullen,  another 
meeting  is  held,  and  a  strike  is  resolved  upon. 
The  men  strike,  the  works  are  closed  for  a  month 
or  more,  one  of  the  parties  weakens,  a  request  for 
a  conference  ensues,  the  difficulty  is  adjusted,  and 
the  meii  return  to  work.  It  matters  not  which 
side  has  been  defeated;  ill  feeling  and  a  desire  for 
another  test  of  endurance  has  obtained  a  foothold, 
and  the  war  continues  until  either  the  employes 
are  all  dead  or  scattered,  or  the  employers  with- 
draw from  the  business.  If  a  demand  comes 
from  the  employers  for  a  reduction  of  wages,  the 
method  of  proceeding  is  practically  the  same, 
with  the  same  results."* 

A  strike  never  proved  the  right  or  wrong 
of  any  labor  question.  In  isolated  instances  it 
may  have  resulted  in  some  particular  good,  but 
these  cases  are  rare  exceptions  in  the  history 
of  strikes.  In  no  case  has  a  strike  left  the 
workingman  in  the  same  prosperous  condition  in 
wliicli  it  found  him.     It  leaves  him  out  of  money 


•Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  Ohio. 

— //.  J.  Walla,  1878. 


ARBITRATION.  6 

and  out  of  work.  It  always  turns  Labor  into  a 
mendicant,  and  frequently  into  a  criminal;  it 
arouses  in  Capital  feelings  of  cruel  resentment, 
and  transforms  it  into  a  heartless  oppressor. 
The  motives,  as  well  as  the  origin  of  these  strikes, 
are  often  simple  and  useless.  One  of  the  most 
extensive  industrial  territories  in  the  United 
States  is  the  Hocking  Valley  Coal  region  of 
Ohio.  In  no  other  collection  of  wageworkers  in 
this  country  have  strikes  been  more  frequent  or 
more  damaging.  Yet  one  who  has  examined  by 
personal  association,  together  with  experience 
coming  only  from  a  practical  miner,  the  condi- 
tions of  employment  there,  says  that  "  the 
majority  of  these  labor  troubles  originate  in 
almost  nothing."*  There  must  be,  however,  ex- 
ceptions to  this  statement.  The  terrible  struggle 
which  has  been  going  on  in  that  region  for  the 
past  year  certainly  cannot  be  said  to  have  origi- 
nated ''  in  almost  nothing."  The  protest  of  the 
miners  against  a  reduction  was  based  on  much  that 
was  just  and  fair.  Nevertheless,  the  differences 
on  this  point  between  the  operators  and  miners 
could  have  been  settled  in  its  first  stages  by  honest 
and  frank  arbitration.  The  failure  of  calm,  can- 
did discussion  between  operator  and  emplo3^e 
frequently  leads   to  dissensions    and    ill-feelings, 

*Aimual  Report  of  Inspector  of  Mines  of  Ohio.— Andrew  Roy,  IfiSl. 


4  ARBITRATION. 

which  usually  terminate  in  a  strike.  Further,  on 
this  same  matter,  he  says,  "  both  parties  acknowl- 
edge that  the  price  of  mining  should  be  reduced 
in  the  spring  and  raised  in  the  fall.  Yet  the 
miners  scarcely  ever  accede  to  a  reduction  with- 
out a  strike,  and  the  operators  never  allow  an 
advance  unless  compelled  to  do  so  by  a  threatened 
strike."  The  bitter  experiences  of  employers 
and  employes  seem  to  lessen  in  but  a  small  degree 
this  annual  recurrence  to  the  methods  of  bar- 
barism to  settle  their  differences.  The  conflict 
goes  on,  bringing  disaster  and  ruin  to  the  opera- 
tors, and  idleness  and  starvation  to  the  miners. 
Another  innocent  victim  of  these  struggles  is 
the  workingman  of  the  cities.  The  price  of  coal 
during  strikes  becomes  high,  or  at  least  they  are 
sometimes  the  pretext  for  high  prices,  and  the 
article  of  home  use  as  necessary  as  the  bread  on 
the  table  is  purchasable  only  by  paying  the  price 
of  a  luxury.  It  is  no  blow  to  the  wealthy;  their 
fires  always  burn,  even  though  their  coal  comes 
from  distant  districts.  So  while  the  miner  in  his 
struggle  entails  suffering  and  want  upon  his  own 
family,  his  influence  for  increasing  suffering 
extends  to  the  crowded  tenements  of  the  city  and 
to  the  home  of  the  mechanic  far  distant.  The 
unjust  demands  of  the  operator  have  the  same 
result. 


ARBITRATION.  O 

The  moral  influence  of  strikes  is  depressive. 
Idleness  is  most  conducive  to  evil;  and  it  is  the 
worst  enemy  of  industrial  progress.  A  victim  of 
involuntary  idleness,  as  the  workingman  usually 
is  in  a  strike,  is  a  pitiable  spectacle.  Willing  and 
able  to  labor,  but  controlled  perhaps  by  some 
external  agency  which  he  must  obey.  No  good 
can  come  to  the  laboring  classes  from  such  a 
source;  it  brings  bitterness  and  defeat  even  when 
their  controversy  is  successful. 

Every  strike  is  a  pecuniary  disaster  to  capital 
and  labor.  The  misled  wagemen  are  losers  even 
when  the  imaginary  victory  is  theirs.  The  annals 
of  strikes  are  a  series  of  foolish  losing  struggles 
for  labor.  A  strike  for  a  wage  advance  of  ten 
per  cent.,  if  kept  up  for  one  month,  and  if  the 
parties  are  successful,  is  no  pecuniary  advance- 
ment. It  will  require  that  striking  labor  ten 
months  of  uninterrupted  work  to  earn  back  the 
money  lost  by  the  strike.  Who  is  ahead  in  the 
contest?  If  the  strike  lasted  thirty  days,  and 
the  advance  gained  was  only  five  per  cent.,  the 
laborer  would  have  to  work  one  year  and  eight 
months  to  earn  back  what  he  lost  during  the 
strike!     Is  there  any  money  to  labor  in  striking? 

A  review  of  the  history  of  the  protests  of 
labor  against  the  aggressions  of  capital  will  be 
interesting  in  demonstrating  the  failure  of  strikes. 


G  ARBITRATION. 

The  path  of  Englisli  industry  is  strewn  with 
tombstones  marking  ruinous  and  ineffective 
struggles  of  labor.  The  earliest  wide  spread  and 
long  continued  strike  of  Elnglish  workmen  was 
that  of  the  Lancashire  cotton  spinners,  which 
occurred  in  ISIO.  In  that  year  the  spinners  in 
the  mills  of  Manchester,  Stockport,  Macclesfield, 
Staleysbridge,  Ashton,  Hyde,  and  as  far  north  as 
Preston,  left  their  work  simultaneously.  Thirty 
thousand  persons  were  thrown  out  of  employ- 
ment. The  strike,  which  was  for  an  advance  in 
wages,  continued  four  months.  It  was  four 
months  of  misery,  lawlessness,  and  destitution  to 
the  participants.  The  hard-earned  savings  of 
years  were  consumed  in  endeavoring  to  win  the 
contest.  The  advance  was  not  obtained  —  the 
desired  })oint  was  an  increase  of  fifty  per  cent.; 
failure  was  the  result.  'The  loss  was  enormous, 
but  out  of  the  pocket  of  the  laborer.  The  spin- 
ners of  Manchester  struck  in  1829;  they  lost  a 
million  and  a  quarter  of  dollars  before  it  was 
ended.  (Jain?  Nothing.  In  1830  the  spinners  at 
Ashton  and  Staleysbridge  lost  the  same  amount 
in  wages  by  a  strike.  In  1833  the  builders  of 
Manchester  inaugurated  a  famous  strike.  They 
had  nothing  to  show  for  their  struggle  but  a  loss 
of  $300,(J()()  in  wages.  The  spinners  of  Preston 
lost  |3()(),()(M)  in   1880.     In  1854  seventeen  thou- 


ARBITRATION.  7 

sand  spinners  in  the  same  place  struck  for  thirty- 
six  weeks,  and  they  lost  $2,100,000  in  wages. 
The  iron  workers  of  England  lost  in  1854  $215, 
000  in  the  same  way.  The  dear  price  of  strikes 
is  not  always  paid  by  labor;  capital  suffers  as 
well.  The  Belfast  linen  operators  in  1875  lost 
$1,000,000  by  one  season's  strike.  This  treats  of 
but  a  few  instances.  In  the  pottery  strikes  of 
Staffordshire  of  1834  and  1836,  the  loss  to  both 
workmen  and  manufacturers  was  $943,050  in  the 
latter  year,  and  $250,000  to  the  workmen  alone 
in  the  former. 

The  bread  winners  of  America  never  made  a 
dollar  by  striking.  When  every  such  transaction 
is  put  upon  the  trial  sheet  of  investigation,  and 
subjected  to  cool  calculation,  the  figures  will  be 
on  the  debit  side  every  time.  The  great  railroad 
strike  of  1877  was  founded  on  the  just  demands 
of  employes  who,  as  a  matter  of  humanity,  were 
entitled  to  increased  wages.  It  was  simply  a 
labor  rebellion  against  the  aggregated  and  op- 
pressive railroad  capital  of  the  country.  But 
what  did  it  amount  to?  Nothing.  Lives  lost, 
property  burned,  public  peace  disturbed,  and 
every  day  was  a  day  lost  in  bread  and  butter  to 
the  strikers.  The  loss  to  labor  was  millions,  to 
capital,  tens  of  millions.  It  settled  no  dispute; 
save  to  no  man  work. 


^  ARBITRATION. 

In  188(1  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of 
Massachusetts  made  a  thorough  report  of  the 
result  of  159  strikes  in  this  country.  The  report 
classifies  the  strikes  and  their  causes  as  follows: 
to  secure  better  wages,  118;  to  secure  shorter 
day.'=',  24;  to  enforce  union  rules,  9;  resisting 
employers'  rules,  5;  against  introduction  of 
machinery,  3.  The  report  shows  the  result  to 
have  been  as  follows:  unsuccessful,  109;  success- 
ful, 18;  compromised,  1(3;  partly  successful,  6; 
result  unknown,  9;  contest  then  pending,  1.  In 
the  various  Fall  River  strikes  in  that  State,  the 
enormous  sum  of  $1,400,000  has  been  lost  in 
wages  by  the  voluntary  idleness  of  the  operatives. 
And  it  is  stated  that  "in  more  than  sixty-eight 
\)CY  cent,  of  them,  loss  in  wages,  varying  with  the 
extent  and  duration  of  the  strike,  has  been  sub- 
mitted to  without  any  material  benefit  accruing 
to  offset  it.'"* 

The  strike  of  the  Amalgamated  Association 
of  Iron  and  Steel  Workers  of  Cincinnati  and 
vicinity  in  1881  was  a  five  months'  struggle 
which  cost  the  strikers  $500,000  in  wages  and 
injured  the  trade  of  Cincinnati  to  the  extent 
of  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars.  In  the  end 
l»otli  i)arties  got  together,  talked  it  all  over,  made 
concessions  to  each  other,  and  an  agreement  was 

•  Keport  of  the  Bureau  of   I.iibor  Statistics.— ISSO,  pages  r,5-C8. 


ARBITRATION.  9 

reached.  This  was  practically  arbitration.  Why 
not  do  that  at  first? 

The  strike  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Telegraphers 
throughout  the  United  States  and  Canada  com- 
menced July  19,  1883.  It  lasted  just  thirty  days. 
The  demands  of  the  strikers  were  for  shorter 
hours  of  labor  and  an  increase  of  pay.  They 
claimed  that  eight  hours  for  day  work  and  seven 
hours  for  night  work  should  be  the  limit;  and 
demanded  an  increase  of  fifteen  per  cent,  on 
salaries.  They  accomplished  absolutely  nothing, 
and  on  the  18th  of  August  the  Brotherhood  pro- 
nounced the  strike  a  failure,  and  advised  all 
operators  who  could  secure  situations  to  go  to 
work. 

They  paid  an  immense  sum  in  lost  wages  for 
their  contest, *which  Avas  just  and  deserved  suc- 
cess. William  Orton,  President  of  the  Western 
Union  Telegraph  Company,  testified  before  a 
Congressional  committee  that  telegraph  operators 
could  not  perform  daily  more  than  six  hours 
of  continuous  labor  without  endangering  their 
health.  Their  wages  had  been  reduced  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  in  three  years.  They  had  grounds 
for  complaint,  but  striking  brought  no  relief. 

It  is  stated  by  Andrew  Roy,  formerly  Ohio's 
Mine  Inspector,  that  the  strikes  among  the  Hock- 
ing Valley  coal  miners  have  been  almost  annual 


10  ARBITRATION. 

for  the  past  twelve  years.  And  he  says  that  ''it 
would  be  a  very  moderate  calculation  to  place  the 
losses  to  the  miners  alone,  the  result  of  striking, 
as  equal  to  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  a 
year."  Thus  in  twelve  years  the  loss  to  the 
miners  has  been  three  million  six  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars!  Labor  able  to  be  performed,  but 
absolutely  annihilated.  The  mine  operators'  loss 
is  estimated  very  low  at  five  millions  of  dollars. 
Add  to  these  pecuniary  losses,  the  lawlessness  and 
bloodshed  that  has  resulted  from  these  heated 
conflicts,  and  what  answer  can  prove  striking  a 
benefit  to  labor? 

Pages  and  pages  of  narratives  of  these  in- 
jurious and  unsuccessful  contests  between  work- 
men and  capitalists  could  be  recited.  But  enough 
has  been  said  to  show  that  whatever  good  is 
accomplished  by  these  struggles  is  paid  for  at  a 
cost  and  sacrifice  which  never  brings  adequate 
retur'is. 

In  this  general  censure  of  the  uselessness  of 
strikes,  1  am  not  forgetful  of  the  fact  that  oft- 
times  they  have  been  the  ultimate  and  only 
remedies  of  lal)or  in  its  effort  to  obtain  justice, 
lint  I  hold  it  to  be  true,  that  there  is  a  better  and 
cheaper  method  of  protecting  the  workingman, 
an<l  givin.^  liini  justice  in  his  disputes  with 
caj)ital.      Mapj)ily  infiuences   are  at  work  which 


ARBITRATION.  11 

are  daily  directing,  at  the  same  time  protecting, 
labor  in  its  demands.  The  trade  unions  of  to- 
day, contrary  to  the  opinions  of  many,  are  the 
most  potent  factor  in  preventing  rash  and  useless 
strikes  in  the  domain  of  capital  and  labor.  They 
have  their  missions,  and  it  has  uniformly  been 
more  for  good  than  for  evil.  And  when  the}^  do 
inaugurate  a  strike,  this  can  be  said  for  them  — 
that  it  is  onl}^  done  after  the  maturest  delibera- 
tion, and  after  the  cost,  as  far  as  the  governing 
power  can  see,  is  fully  estimated.  William  Trant, 
in  his  valuable  little  treatise  recently  written  on 
Trade  Unions,  their  Origin  and  Objects,  Influence 
and  Efficacy,  presents  a  very  effective  defense 
against  the  charges  made  against  them;  and  from 
this  source  I  quote  at  length,  as  showing  their 
relations  to  strikes.  While  he  is  speaking  of  the 
English  societies,  it  may  be  observed  that  the 
same  is  applicable,  but  in  a  more  appropriate 
degree,  to  the  societies  of  American  workmen. 

"  In  order,  however,  that  trade  unions  may 
lay  claim  to  fitness  for  carrying  out  their  objects, 
they  must  show  something  more  than  that  they 
are  able  to  conduct  a  strike  to  a  successful  issue, 
to  palliate  the  evils  of  an  unsuccessful  strike,  and 
to  succeed  in  occasionally  forming  a  board  of 
arbitration.  They  must  show  that  in  their  very 
nature  they  have  the  desire  and  power  to  prevent 


12  ARBITRATION. 

strikes.  It  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  state  that  in 
this  respect,  also,  the  trade  unions  are  eminently 
successful.  Indeed,  economy,  if  nothing  else, 
would  dictate  such  a  policy.  The  executories 
of  trade  unions  have  been  taught  by  experience, 
that  even  when  an  object  is  worth  striving  for,  a 
strike  is  often  the  worst,  and  always  the  most 
expensive,  wa}'  of  obtaining  it.  Strikes,  as  a 
rule,  are  a  dernier  resort,  and  are  more* frequently 
discountenanced  by  the  general  secretary  than 
approved  of  by  him.  Indeed,  it  is  the  boast 
of  most  trade  union  secretaries  that  they  have 
prevented  more  strikes  than  they  have  originated. 
This  is  all  the  more  creditable,  because  some 
branch  or  other  is  always  urging  a  strike.  'At 
least  twenty  times  in  as  many  months,'  wrote 
Mr.  Allan,  'we  have  recommended  that  a  strike 
should  not  take  place.'  'About  one-third,'  an- 
swered Mr.  Applegarth,  when  questioned  on  the 
subject  by  the  Royal  Commissioners,  'of  the 
applications  made  to  us  to  strike,  during  the  last 
few  years,  have  been  refused;'  and  Mr.  Mac- 
Donald,  Secretary  of .  the  House  Painters'  Alli- 
ance, said,  '  Our  parent  society  never  originated  a 
strike,  but  has  stopped  many.'  The  desire  of  the 
trade  unionists  to  prevent  strikes  is  also  shown 
by  the  following  resolution,  which  was  unani- 
mously agreed  upon  at  the  Trade   Unions'  Con- 


ARBITRATION.  13 

gress  in  1874,  viz.:  'That  in  the  opinion  of  this 
Congress,  that  in  all  trades  where  disputes  occur, 
and  where  it  is  possible  to  prevent  strikes  by 
starting  co-operative  establishments,  all  trades 
societies  and  trades  councils  be  recommended  to 
render  such  assistance  as  lies  in  their  power,  and 
thus,  as  far  as  possible,  prevent  strikes  and  lock- 
outs in  the  future.'  This,  at  any  rate,  shows  that 
the  unions  are  as  willing  to  devote  their  funds  to 
the  prevention  of  strikes  as  to  their  origination; 
and  although  some  of  the  speakers  to  that  reso- 
lution showed  a  preference  for  co-operative  prin- 
ciples inconsistent  with  a  thorough  belief  in  those 
of  trade  unionism,  yet  the  congress  wisely  limited 
its  resolution  to  those  circumstances  when  the 
co-operative  form  of  trading  is  certain  to  prevent 
a  strike,  and  not  to  the  promulgation  of  co- 
operative principles  generally." 

And  he  verified  his  argument  by  the  accounts 
of  the  various  English  trade  unions,  that  they 
spend,  comparativel}',  a  very  small  per  cent,  of 
their  funds  in  sustaining  strikes.  In  1882,  the 
Amalgamated  Engineers,  with  an  income  of 
£124,000  and  a  cash  balance  of  £168,000,  ex- 
pended in  strikes,  including  the  support  they 
gave  to  other  trades,  £890  only,  less  than  one  per 
cent.  The  Iron  Founders  spent  out  of  an  income 
of  £42,000,  £214;    the  Amalgamated  Carpenters 


14  ARBITRATION. 

wlio  liad  been  engaged  in  strikes,  expended 
£2,000  out  of  £50,000,  only  four  per  cent.;  the 
Tailors  spent  £505  out  of  a  fund  of  £18,000;  the 
Stone  Masons,  with  a  trade  union  of  eleven 
thousand  members,  spent  nothing  in  strikes. 
During  six  years,  it  is  estimated  that  seven 
English  trade  unions  spent  in  the  settlement  of 
disputes,  £162,000  out  of  a  capital  of  almost 
£2,000,000.  In  1S82,  these  specific  societies,  with 
an  aggregate  income  of  £330,000  and  a  cash 
balance  of  £360,000,  expended  altogether  in 
matters  of  dispute  about  £5,000.  These  figures 
from  Frederic  Harrison's  address  before  the  Trade 
Union  Congress  at  Nottingham,  in  October,  1883, 
certainly  are  creditable  to  the  cause  of  trade 
unionism.  "When  it  is  remembered  that  ninety- 
nine  per  cent,  of  these  societies'  expenditures 
were  for  benevolent  and  provident  purposes,  and 
one  per  cent,  only  for  strikes,  it  is  absurd  to  say 
that  the  chief  object  of  a  trade  union  is  to  foster 
trade  disputes." 

As  far  as  industrial  organizations  can  prevent 
these  conflicts,  they  have  lent  all  their  powers 
and  machinery  to  that  end.  Yet  in  spite  of  their 
unfjuestioned  attempts,  there  has  been,  and  will 
contiinic  to  l)e,  these  terrible  and  costly  struggles 
wliicli  have  crippled  ]a])or  and  its  cause,  and  at 
the  same  time  almcjst  destroyed  the  mechanism 


ARBITKATION.  15 

of  trade.  The  condition  of  things,  therefore, 
compels  labor  and  capital  in  their  own  interests, 
and  society  for  its  peace,  to  go  farther  and  inquire 
whether  there  is  "  a  balm  in  Gilead  "  for  these 
troubles.  Strife  and  stubbornness  and  bulldozing 
have  failed.  The  inhuman  system  of  lock-outs 
—  capital's  starving-out  process  —  does  not  admit 
of  an  argument  in  defense.  The  situation  is 
pointedly  put  by  George  HoWell,  who  was  at  one 
time  Secretary  of  the  English  Trade  Union 
Congress.  Said  he,  '*  the  whole  question  lies  in  a 
nutshell.  Is  brute  force  better  than  reason?  If 
it  be,  then  a  costermonger  may  be  a  greater 
personage  than  a  philosopher,  and  Tom  Sayers 
might  have  been  considered  superior  to  John 
Stuart  Mill."  It  is  obvious,  and  it  is  needless  to 
argue  the  question,  that  public  interests,  as  well 
as  the  individual  interests  of  employer  and  em- 
ploye, would  be  best  subserved  if  the  same  result 
in  industrial  disputes  could  be  attained  without 
the  barbarisms  of  strikes  and  lock-outs.  If 
differences  could  be  corrected  amicably  without 
the  cessation  of  labor  and  the  depreciation  of 
capital,  it  would  certainly  be  money  in  the-  pocket 
of  the  worker  as  well  as  the  capitalist.  Take,  for 
instance,  the  strike  of  the  colliers  of  South  Wales 
in  1875.  It  included  120,000  workmen,  and 
lasted  seventeen  weeks.     The  loss   in  wages  has 


16  ARBITRATION. 

been  variously  calculated  from  three  to  five 
millions  of  dollars;  and,  after  all  that  loss,  it  was 
finally  settled  by  the  miners  and  operators  com- 
ing together,  and  by  reasonable  methods  arbitra- 
ting their  differences  in  a  manner  that  provided 
a  basis  which  prevented  many  a  subsequent 
contest. 

When  men  of  labor  and  capital  meet  together 
as  men  of  business  should  meet,  and  discuss  their 
difFeronces,  in  a  friendly  spirit,  the  chances  are 
altogether  in  favor  of  an  amicable  settlement, 
profitable  in  the  end,  to  all  concerned  and  parti- 
cipating. Their  success  runs  in  parallel  lines;  if 
they  diverge  or  cross,  the  symmetry  which  the 
laws  of  trade  and  nature  design  is  marred.  As 
the  bow  unto  the  arrow  is,  useless  one  without 
the  other,  so  is  labor  and  capital.  Labor  is 
capital;  capital  is  labor;  and  in  this  stage  of 
society  we  cannot  have  one  without  both. 

There  is  a  remedy  for  the  conflict.  It  is  the 
remedy  that  civilized  nations  have  substituted  for 
war;  the  remedy  that  has  killed  the  doctrine  that 
"  might  is  right."  It  is  the  submission  to  the 
influence  of  reason.  The  voluntary  arbitration 
of  labor's  troubles  and  capital's  claims,  trusting 
to  an  enlightened  public  opinion  to  sustain 
awards,  is  the  only  rational  method  consistent 
with   the  welfare  of   society.      This  conclusion  is 


ARPilTRATION.  17 

justified  on  the  following  summarized   grounds: 

1.  Strikes  have  failed  to  accomplish  what  the 
workingman  demands,  although  they  have  given 
him  partial  relief. 

2.  Their  enormous  cost  in  wages  thrown 
away  has  proven  that  no  good  that  comes  from 
them  is  worth  the  price  paid. 

3.  Their  demoralizing  effect,  generally  culmi- 
nating in  lawlessness  and  at  times  in  hloodshed, 
antagonizes  public  opinion  to  the  just  claims 
of  labor. 

4.  Their  arbitrary  management,  which  creates 
a  general  idleness  in  a  trade  when  the  irritation 
is  local,  is  clearly  unjust. 

5.  They  lead  to  an  unjust  distribution  of 
wages  by  making  the  uniform  rates  of  wages 
established  apply  to  the  indolent  and  unskilful  as 
well  as  to  the  industrious  and  efficient  workman. 

Just  arbitration  has  none  of  these  evils.  Is  it 
not  better  to  make  equity  a  living  principle  in  all 
disputes  of  the  wage  workers,  and  seek  to  bring 
the  force  of  peaceful  justice  into  play,  instead 
of  the  more  violent  and  damaging  contests,  which, 
if  won.  are  but  defeats?  How  shall  tliat  be  done? 
How  has  it  been  done':^     We  shall  see. 


CHAPTER     II 


VOLUNTARY  ARBITRATION  —  ITS   METHODS 
AND    OPERATIONS. 


AUBITRATION  is  the  adjudication  by  private 
persons  appointed  to  decide  a  matter  or 
matters  in  controversy,  on  a  reference 
made  to  them  for  that  purpose,  either  by  agree- 
ment of  the  disputants,  or  by  the  order  or 
suggestion  of  a  court  of  law.  When  the  subject 
to  be  decided  is  one  of  work  or  wages,  or  both, 
arising  between  employer  and  employe,  it  is 
industrial  arbitration.  The  proceeding  generally 
is  called  a  submission  to  arbitration;  the  persons 
appointed  to  decide  are  termed  a  Board  of  Arbi- 
trators or  Referees,  and  their  opinion  or  adjudi- 
cation of  the  subject-matter  before  them  is  called 
an  award.  Boards  consist  usually  of  an  even 
number  of  members,  and  when  they  fail  to  agree 
they  call  upon  a  third  person  who  is  known  as 
the  umpire.  His  decision  expresses  the  award. 
One  of  the  ancillaries  to  arbitration  is  the  effort 


ARBITRATION.  19 

to  promote  harmony  and  an  agreement  between 
the  disputants  before  their  contest  is  subjected  to 
the  formal  inquiry  and  decision  of  arbitration; 
this  is  known  as  conciliation.  With  these  prefa- 
tory and  explanatory  words,  an  examination  will 
be  made  into  the  methods  and  worth  of  industrial 
arbitration. 

I  do  not  claim  that  courts  of  arbitration,  even 
when  based  upon  the  voluntary  action  of  labor 
and  capital,  are  a  complete  panacea  for  all  the  ills 
of  trade  and  industry.  As  long  as  men  have 
passions  there  will  be  "  wars  and  rumors  of  war," 
but  I  do  claim  that  they  will,  in  a  wonderful 
degree,  dispense  Avith  those  disastrous  agencies 
now  used  in  the  settlement  of  trade  disputes. 

There  is  a  distinction  to  be  made  in  the 
beginning  between  statutory  arbitration  and  vol- 
untary arbitration.  The  former  applies  to  arbi- 
tration, the  awards  of  which  have  the  force 
of  judgments  of  courts;  in  fact,  such  a  board  of 
arbitration  is  a  court  for  the  time  being,  having 
full  power  to  subpoena  witnesses  and  enforce 
its  judgments  as  a  court  of  record.  Voluntary 
arbitration  is  an  entirely  different  system.  As 
tlie  term  indicates,  there  is  no  authority  of  law 
unless  it  be  in  the  method  of  erecting  the  boards. 
Its  awards  have  not  the  force  of  judgments,  and 
it  rests  upon  the  honor  of  the  disputants,  rather 


20  ARBITRATION. 

than  upon  the  writ  of  the  sheriif,  to  carry  them 
into  effect.  All  the  experience  and  history  on 
this  question  is  uniformly  to  the  effect,  that  the 
only  successful  arbitration  between  labor  and 
capital  in  the  past  has  been  purely  voluntary. 
For  years  there  have  been  upon  the  statute  books 
of  many  of  the  States  laws  providing  for  arbi- 
tration of  disputes,  but  they  have  never  been 
applied  in  labor  troubles.  Boards  with  a  justice 
of  peace  air  about  them,  and  clothed  with  powers 
of  compulsion,  fines,  and  commitment,  have 
never  been  considered  by  contesting  employer 
and  employe  as  a  safe  or  judicious  forum  to 
submit  their  case.  In  England  since  the  fifth 
year  of  the  reign  of  George  IV.  (1824)  there  has 
been  in  force  a  statute  providing  for  arbitration 
in  the  industrial  disputes.  Under  it  tribunals 
with  compulsory  powers  and  processes  were 
created,  but  it  still  remains  a  dead  letter,  and  has 
been  especially  objectionable  both  to  employers 
and  employed. 

The  opinion  of  those  who  have  been  close 
observers  of  this  matter  are  of  interest  as  bearing 
on  this  subject.  In  this  country  no  man  has 
given  the  question  of  arbitration  a  broader  and 
deeper  investigation  than  Mr.  Joseph  D.  Weeks, 
of  Pittsburg.  In  1878  he  was  appointed  a  special 
Commissioner  of   the  State  of   Pennsylvania  to 


ARBITRATION.  21 

proceed  to  England  and  examine  in  person  the 
methods  and  operations  of  the  system  of  vokm- 
tary  arbitration,  now  a  settled  question  in  that 
country.  His  comprehensive  and  able  report  to 
Governor  Hartranft  in  December,  1878,  contains 
the  result  of  his  full  examination.  He  says: 
"The  voluntary  feature  of  these  boards  is  one  to 
which  I  desire  to  call  particular  attention.  Both 
Mr.  Mundella  and  Mr,  Kettle,  to  whom  the  cause 
of  arbitration  and  conciliation  in  England  owes 
much  that  it  is,  and  who  represent  somewhat 
diverse  views  on  the  subject,  agree  that  these 
boards  should  be  voluntary  and  not  compulsory. 
Though  there  are  acts  of  Parliament,  which  pro- 
vide compulsory  legal  powers  by  which  either 
side  can  compel  the  other  to  arbitrate  on  any 
dispute,  these  powers  have  never,  in  a  single 
instance,  so  far  as  I  could  learn,  been  used;  but 
the  large  number  of  differences  that  have  been 
settled  by  arbitration  in  Great  Britain  in  the  last 
eighteen  years  have  all  been  voluntary  in  their 
submission  and  in  the  enforcement  of  the  award." 
Prof.  W.  Stanley  Jevons,  the  eminent  English 
economist,  speaking  of  arbitration,  says:  "All 
available  evidence  tends  to  show  that  successful 
boards  of  arbitration  must  be  purely  voluntary 
bodies.  *  *  *  jj^  ^w  probability  success 
will  be  best  obtained  in  the  settlement  of  trade 


22  ARBITRATION. 

disputes  by  keeping  lawyers  and  laws  as  much  at 
a  distance  as  possible.  There  must  be  sponta- 
neous, or,  at  least,  voluntary  approximation  of 
the  parties  concerned.  It  is  a  question,  not 
of  litigation,  but  of  shaking  hands  in  a  friendly 
manner,  and  sitting  down  to  a  table  to  talk  the 
matter  over.  The  great  evil  of  the  present  day 
is  the  entire  dissension  of  the  laborer  and  the 
capitalist;  if  we  once  get  the  hostile  bodies  to 
meet  by  delegates  around  the  same  table,  in  a 
purely  voluntary  and  equal  footing,  the  first  great 
evil  of  dissension  is  in  a  fair  way  of  being  over- 
come."* And  Judge  Rupert  Kettle,  a  strong 
advocate  of  arbitration,  contends  "  that,  according 
to  the  spirit  of  our  laws  and  the  freedom  of  our 
people,  any  procedure,  to  be  popular,  must  l)c 
accepted  voluntarily  by  both  contending  parties." 

Arbitration  which  is  purely  voluntary  is  best 
advanced  when  the  method  of  creating  the  boards 
is  prescribed  by  some  rule  or  precedent.  Hence, 
legislation  providing  for  an  uniform  manner  in 
the  erection  and  operation  of  boards  of  arbitra- 
tion is  always  advantageous.  To  this  extent,  and 
this  only,  can  laws  figure  with  good  results. 

When  the  proceeding  to  create  boards  is  pre- 
scril)ed  by  statute,  it  gives  to  them  a  semi-official 
character  which  attracts  public  attention  to  their 

•  The  State  in  Relation  to  Labor.  —  11'.  Stanley  Jevons,  p.  103. 


ARBITRATION.  23 

sessions  and  awards.  In  this  way  a  critical  and 
acute  public  opinion,  or  sentiment,  becomes  one 
of  the  strongest  aids  to  fair  and  honest  awards, 
and  it  is  one  of  the  most  effective  preventives 
against  their  repudiation.  Often  after  the  parties 
consent  to  arbitrate,  they  disagree  on  the  simple 
matter  of  selecting  the  board.  When  the  law 
points  a  clear,  fair,  and  uniform  system  of  crea- 
ting boards  for  voluntary  arbitration,  it  takes 
away  this  trivial  cause  of  disagreement.  And  a 
statute  of  this  nature  can  go  a  long  ways  towards 
providing  for  many  of  these  preliminary  steps 
without  in  any  way  impairing  the  mutuality  of 
this  system  of  arbitration.  It  can  fix  the  mini- 
mum number  of  each  party  in  the  board;  it  can 
prescribe  by  whom  the  board  may  be  officiall}^ 
designated  as  such,  and  it  need  not  at  all  interfere 
with  the  selection  of  those  who  are  to  act  upon  it; 
it  can  fix  the  jurisdiction  of  these  boards  as  to 
the  territory  and  trade  in  which  the}^  may  arbi- 
trate; it  may  limit  and  define  the  service  of  the 
members  of  the  board,  provide  for  the  time  and 
manner  of  electing  the  umpire,  and  may  give  the 
boards  powers  as  to  testimony,  as  well  as  prescribe 
their  manner  of  making  an  award. 

Voluntary  arbitration  then  may  be  regarded 
as  the  only  practicable  method  of  settlement,  if 
the  parties   arbitrate  at  all.      Any  other  system 


24  ARBITRATION. 

can  be  seen  at  a  glance  to  be  inoperative.  While 
decrees  of  statutory  boards  could  be  enforced 
against  the  employers,  they  would  as  a  rule  be  j 
ineffectual  against  the  workmen.  Unfortunately 
the  latter  are  oftentimes  proof  against  the  execu- 
tion of  judgments.  But  when  it  is  left  purely  to 
the  honesty  and  fair  play  of  both  sides,  the  , 
chances  of  success  are  improved  wonderfully. 
Lack  of  the  world's  goods  does  not  necessarily  1 
mean  lack  of  honor.  The  great  mass  of  work- 
men who  would  agree  to  arbitrate  could  safely  be 
relied  upon  to  abide  the  awards.  This  objection 
against  voluntary  tribunals  of  arbitration  cannot 
be  sustained,  for  the  instances  are  few  where 
either  party  has  put  his  honor  behind  him  and 
refused  to  abide  the  award.  The  power  of  public 
opinion  is  also  great  in  sustaining  a  just  award. 
Boards  in  every  instance  consist  of  an  equal 
number  of  workmen  and  capitalists  or  employers. 
Out  of  this  body  there  may  be  appointed  a  com- 
mittee of  inquiry  or  a  board  of  conciliation. 
This  latter  l)oar<l  takes  cognizance  of  individual 
disputes,  and  is  wholly  informal.  It  deals  with 
lesser  troubles;  it  gives  no  decision  on  any  given 
matter,  because  no  subject  is  ever  referred  to 
them  for  settlement.  They  are  the  good  Samari- 
tans of  tlie  Board  of  Ar})itration.  As  their  name 
indicates,  the}'  are  conciliators.     If  they  fail   by 


ARBITRATION.  25 

friendly  urging  and  inquiry  to  bring  harmony, 
the  matter  in  discussion  goes  before  the  arbitra- 
tors to  be  acted  on  formally.  When  the  dispute 
finally  reaches  the  arbitrators,  the  claims  of  the 
workingmen  are  stated  by  their  Secretary;  and 
the  objections,  or  vice  versa,  by  the  emplo^^ers 
through  their  Secretary.  The  matter  is  then  one 
of  judgment,  reason,  and  justice.  The  parties 
are  presumed  to  meet  as  friends  and  as  equals. 
As  well  might  there  be  no  meeting  at  all  if  the 
assembling  is  in  any  other  spirit.  And  this  is 
one  signal  characteristic  of  success  in  arbitration, 
that  under  it  the  parties  meet  as  arbitrators  before 
they  become  enemies.  Hence  the  necessity  of 
having  the  board  erected  before  any  strike  or 
dispute  occurs.  In  time  of  harmony  prepare  for 
the  "  winter  of  discontent."  In  prosperity  is  the 
time  to  prepare  for  the  antagonism  of  labor  and 
capital.  When  hard  times  come,  and  the  compe- 
tition of  labor  within  itself  is  great,  it  is  almost 
impossible  for  the  industrial  classes  to  procure 
their  just  concessions  from  capital.  They  become 
enemies,  and  enemies  can  never  arbitrate;  friends 
always  can. 

The  man  who  works  is  equal  to  him  for  whom 
he  works.  The  difference,  if  any,  between  them 
is  in  the  qualities  of  their  individual  manhood, 
and     not    in    any    positions    they    occu})V.       Tlu* 


20  ARBITRATION. 

failuro  of  the  first  board  of  arbitration  in  South 
Staffordshire,  England,  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  employers  never  realized  this.  They  met, 
were  seated  comfortably  at  a  table  with  pens,  ink, 
and  j)aper,  and  installed  their  chairman;  the 
workmen  were  shown  to  a  bench  at  the  side 
of  the  room,  and  seated  as  if  they  were  in  court 
awaiting  to  be  tried,  rather  than  fellow  citizens 
assembled  to  agree  upon  a  contract  which  was  as 
important  to  them  as  to  their  emplo3'ers.  Under 
our  American  ideas  such  an  affair  would  not 
settle  anything. 

After  the  erection  of  a  board,  a  matter  of  vital 
importance  is  the  selection  of  an  umpire.  This, 
like  the  board  itself,  should  be  settled  upon  before 
the  contest  ripens  into  the  heat  of  a  litigation. 
Who  he  should  l)e,  liis  qualities  and  capacities, 
form  the  gravest  questions  in  voluntary  arbitra- 
tion. Must  he  have  a  familiar  and  practical 
knowledge  of  the  subject-matter  in  dispute? 
Experience  in  this  proves  nothing.  Some  of  the 
best  uiiij>ii-('s  in  tliis  country  and  in  England 
have  been  devoid  of  any  practical  knowledge  of 
the  trade  in  wliicli  the  dispute  occurred.  Thomas 
Plughes,  M.  P.,  Thomas  Brassey,  M.  P.,  Henry 
C'rompton.  and  lUipert  Kettle  have  been  among 
tlic  most  triist(Ml  and  successful  umpires  in 
Englisli  arl.ili-ation,  but  none  of  them   have  been 


ARBITRATION.  27 

practically  connected  with  manufacturing  or  min- 
ing trades  in  which  their  judgment  has  always 
been  received.  They  have  had  the  confidence 
of  the  disputing  parties,  and  have  given  their 
references  the  strictest  and  most  impartial  inves- 
tigation. Just  as  successful  arbitrators  were  men 
who  have  been  extensive  manufacturers,  as  A. 
J.  Mundella  and  others.  The  workingmen  in 
England  call  those  who  decide  upon  knowledge 
not  acquired  practically,  "  stranger  referees,"  and 
they  have  been  strangely  prejudiced  against  them, 
but  are  beginning  to  view  the  matter  differently, 
so  that  it  makes  but  little  difference  at  this  time. 
The  cause  of  antipath}^  to  "stranger  referees"  is 
principally  one  of  class,  a  feeling  that  there  is  a 
lack  of  sympathy  for  the  laborer.  This  objection 
in  this  country  would  hardly  arise,  as  both  parties 
would  demand  good  judgment  and  honesty,  and 
would  have  no  fears  as  to  prejudice. 

The  umpire  is  distinctively  a  judge.  If  a 
man  will  put  himself  through  a  course  of  study 
on  the  subject  of  his  decision,  there  is  no  reason 
why  he  should  not  give  as  fair  and  as  competent 
a  judgment  as  if  he  were  engaged  all  his  life  in 
the  business.  Courts  of  law  are  the  daily  ex- 
amples of  men  dealing  in  practical  things  with  a 
theoretical  knowledge.  This  is  notably  the  case 
in    patent    litigation.       Questions    of    the    most 


28  ARBITRATION. 

practical  and  scientific  machinery  are  decided 
witli  justice  and  competency.  The  principal 
quality  desired  in  an  umpire  is  integrity  and 
levelheadedness,  with  an  intelligent  conception 
of  what  he  is  to  pass  upon. 

It  is  not  desirable  here  to  lay  down  any 
principle  or  basis  on  which  awards  can  be  made. 
That  is  a  duty  peculiarly  attached  to  each  indi- 
vidual case  of  arbitration.  The  Board  having 
met,  arp  supposed  to  be  within  honest  reach  of 
ever}'  fact  and  all  information  that  will  give  them 
light  in  an  honest  investigation.  If  the  dispute 
be  one  of  wages,  assuredly  the  basis  becomes  the 
ability  of  the  manufacturer  to  pay,  the  condition 
of  the  market,  and  the  demands  of  the  workmen. 
To  agree  upon  a  basis  is  the  very  object  of  a 
board  of  arbitration.  Mr.  Weeks,  in  his  report 
referred  to,  concerning  this,  says:  '*As  a  matter 
of  information  it  ma}'  be  said  that  the  practical 
operation  of  the  boards,  while  all  the  facts  rela- 
tive to  prices,  competition,  demand  and  supply, 
both  of  labor  and  products,  are  considered,  wages 
are  generally  based  on  the  selling  price  of  the 
article  produced.  Mr.  Kettle,  in  a  noted  arbitra- 
tion in  the  coal  trade,  found  a  certain  date  at 
which  the  wages  paid  for  work  about  the  colliery 
was  satisfactory  to  l)Oth  sides.  This  became  the 
ideal,  and  served  to  fix   in  a  general  way  a  ratio 


ARBITRATION.  20 

of  wages  to  prices  that  would  be  a  satisfactory 
one  to  both  parties.  Due  notice  was  taken  of 
any  changes  that  had  occurred  that  should  serve 
to  increase  or  diminish  this  ratio,  such  as  reduc- 
tion in  the  hours  of  labor,  increased  expense 
from  the  mine  inspection  laws,  etc.;  and  the 
arbitrator  in  his  award  endeavored  to  approxi- 
mate this  ratio  as  near  as  could  be  done  without 
injustice  or  injury."  This,  of  course,  necessitates 
an  examination  of  the  books  and  business  of  the 
employer.  For  this  reason  it  has  been  strenu- 
ously objected  to.  But  the  objection  as  compared 
with  the  result  at  issue  is  certainly  captious.  No 
investigation  that  would  reveal  transactions  nec- 
essary to  business  success  is  demanded.  The 
question  of  simply  what  was  the  selling  price  at  a 
time  agreed  upon,  is  all  the  board  would  require 
to  be  answered.  Any  confidential  imparting  of 
information  would  certainly  be  regarded  by  the 
board,  representing,  as  it  is  supposed,  the  honor- 
able element  of  labor  and  capital. 

After  all,  it  will  be  asked,  may  not  the  Board 
of  Arbitration  and  umpire  make  a  mistake,  per- 
haps against  the  wageworker  and  perhaps  against 
the  employer?  Certainly.  But  is  there  as  much 
likelihood  of  error  in  the  decision  by  arbitration 
as  there  is  in  the  violent  and  blind  impulses  of  a 
strike  or  a  lock-out?     As  long  as  candid  and  cool 


/ 

30  ARBITRATION. 

investigation  is  superior  to  rash  aiul  unreasonable 
action,  thus  long  will  arbitration  be  less  fruitful 
of  mistakes  than  strikes.  Under  the  control 
of  voluntary  arbitration,  facts  and  figures  of 
business  take  the  place  of  malevolence  and  mere 
assertion,  and  where  a  board  w^ould  err  once,  a 
strike  would  err  three  times.  Besides,  no  board 
or  uni})ire,  such  as  would  be  selected  by  intelli- 
gent workmen  and  employers,  could  make  a 
grossly  serious  mistake.  And  such  a  departure 
as  might  even  sometimes  be  made  —  and  to  err  is 
a  parcel  of  our  humanit}'  —  would  only  equal  a 
short  time  in  amount  of  wages.  Even  presuming 
an  error,  is  not  that  far  superior  to  a  strike? 
Boards  of  Arbitration  cannot  operate  so  as  never 
to  commit  an  error,  but  they  commit  fewer  errors 
than  contests  of  force. 

The  force  of  public  opinion  in  sustaining  the 
justice  of  an  award  of  a  board,  is  an  important 
aid  to  the  system  of  voluntary  arbitration.  In 
this  labor  would  have  the  advantage,  for  invari- 
ably ill  strikes,  where  justice  is  on  the  side  of  the 
worker,  the  opinion  of  an  enlightened  and  reading 
American  i)ublic  has  been  with  him.  This  feeling, 
that  the  arbitrators  themselves  would  have  to 
face  the  bar  of  public  sentiment,  and  hear  the 
reflex  judgment  on  their  award,  would  be  the 
most   potent  i\wU)r  in  prompting  them  to  w^eigli 


ARBITRATION.  31 

candidly,  justly,  and  carefully  all  that  comes 
before  them.  This  would,  of  course,  be  cumula- 
tive to  their  own  independence,  integrity,  and 
ability. 

In  order  to  be  of  the  most  advantage,  these 
tribunals  should  be  permanent,  having  a  con- 
tinued existence,  and  ready  at  any  time  to  take 
jurisdiction  of  a  dispute.  In  this  way  the  best 
material  may  be  obtained  for  the  board,  and  its 
judgments  will  be  calmer.  To  select  the  arbitra- 
tor from  the  participants  of  a  struggle,  manifestly 
is  an  impediment  to  a  fair  judicial  hearing.  The 
most  successful  boards  of  arbitration  are  those 
that  have  been  permanent  and  held  stated  meet- 
ings at  regular  intervals.  This  periodical  assem- 
bling of  employers  and  employed  to  discuss  small 
differences,  perhaps,  or  questions  of  social  ad- 
vantage to  each,  is  a  very  valuable  feature.  It 
gives  both  parties  a  knowledge  of  their  demands, 
necessities,  and  expenditures.  The  facing  of 
capital  and  labor  as  companions  and  friends  is 
of  equal  benefit  and  interest  to  each.  Many  of 
the  disputes  in  the  industrial  world  can  be  attrib- 
uted to  lack  of  information  in  the  party  origina- 
ting the  struggle,  while  a  social  contact  and  a 
mutual  interchange  of  conditions  and  abilities 
will  make  labor  just  in  its  demands  and  temper 
capital   in  its  claims.     And  thus  b}^  the  modera- 


82  ARi:iTKATI()N. 

tion  and  forbearance  peace  can  dwell  V)et\veen 
them,  and  more  be  obtained  by  both  sides  than 
if  disputes  were  summarily  created. 

The  submission,  discussion,  and  decision  of 
industrial  (juestions  to  voluntary  boards  of  ar- 
bitration is  purely  a  matter  of  business,  and  is 
clearly  the  best  plan  devised  by  the  wit  of  man  to 
avoid  unnecessary  destruction  and  loss  to  labor. 
No  other  system  recomuiends  itself  in  which  "a 
fair  price  for  a  fair  day's  work  "  is  arrived  at  on 
as  just  a  basis  and  by  as  reasonable  a  method. 
The  conflicts  of  suspicion  and  distrust  between 
manufacturer  and  employes  render  the  first 
periods  of  boards  of  arbitration  trying,  and,  at 
times,  discouraging.  Oppositions  growing  out  of 
''matters  of  sentiment"  are  generally  foolish  and 
intangible,  and  furnish  no  proper  cause  for  the 
exercise  of  the  peace  making  power.  At  the 
same  time  they  are  apt  to  be  the  source  of 
disputes.  The  best  remedy  for  this  unfortunate 
condition  of  tilings  is  the  friendly  contact  and 
association  of  representative  workmen  and  em- 
ployers, til  at  necessarily  follows  from  the  opera- 
tions of  voluntary  tribunals. 

The  arbitration  which  is  clothed  with  the 
})()wer  of  the  law  in  its  methods  of  deciding  and 
in  ciitorcing  its  awards,  has  some  ardent  and 
intelligent  advocates.      Some  friends  of   arbitra- 


ARBITRATION.  33 

tion  have  claimed  that  a  legal  power  to  enforce 
the  award  is  fully  necessary  to  a  completeness  in 
voluntary  arbitration;  others,  equally  sincere  and 
desirous  of  its  success,  have  maintained  that  to 
make  arbitration  anything  but  voluntary  would 
be  to  make  it  inoperative.  There  are  now  in 
existence  three  laws  in  England  relating  to  arbi- 
tration, and  all  providing  for  a  legal  enforcement 
of  the  award.  The  first  of  these,  before  referred 
to,  was  passed  in  1824,  and  the  others  in  1867 
and  1872.  These  latter  acts  were  originated  by 
Lord  St.  Leonards  and  Mr.  A.  J.  Mundella,  M.  P., 
respectively.  They  embody  the  compulsory  pro- 
cesses in  a  court  of  arbitration,  as  well  as  some 
minor  provisions  as  to  method  of  appointment, 
time  of  meeting,  etc.  Execution  upon  goods  and 
chattels,  as  well  as  impris'onment,  are  the  com- 
pulsory manners  of  enforcing  awards.  These 
acts  have  not  been  taken  advantage  of,  and  they 
are  not  regarded  with  much  favor  by  manu- 
facturers or  workmen.  The  bright  instances  of 
the  success  of  arbitration  have  uniformly  been 
those  purely  voluntary.  The  rigors  of  the  law 
have  not  in  any  case  been  called  into  play  to 
enforce  an  aAvard.  That  "  aggregate  honor  of 
individuals,  which  our  French  neighbors  call 
esprit  du  corps,"  is  the  power  which  sustains  the 
decrees  of  voluntary  boards. 


34  ARBITRATION. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  where  all  the 
proceedings  have  been  voluntary,  that  some 
awards  which  can  be  equally  enforced  upon 
capitalists  and  workmen,  would  be  improved  by 
conferring  legal  process.  Instances  have  occurred 
where  awards  have  been  repudiated  and  rejected, 
but  as  compared  with  those  acted  upon  and 
sustained,  their  number  is  few.  In  some  cases 
where  the  feeling  has  been  strong,  upon  the 
publication  of  an  adverse  award  there  has  been 
sulking  and  disappointment  among  workmen,  but 
the  whole  line  of  experience  confirms  the  state- 
ment that  most  awards,  satisfactory  or  otherwise, 
have  been  acted  on.  The  management  of  boards 
should  be  to  eliminate  from  their  decisions  all 
feeling  of  conquest  or  defeat.  The  business  aspect 
of  the  arbitration,  and  the  desire  to  promote 
harmony  and  good-will,  should  be  steadfastly 
adhered  to. 

The  history  of  labor,  especially  of  P^ngland 
and  France,  is  the  brightest  testimony  to  the 
success  of  voluntary  arbitration.  Its  unques- 
tioned benefits  and  harmonizing  influence  seem 
to  have  given  labor  renewed  confidence  in  its  own 
intellectual  strength,  while  capital  has  multiplied 
its  successes  with  justice  and  generosity. 

One  incident  in  the  development  of  industrial 
arbitration    is    worth     recording,    for    it    sheds    a 


ARBITRATION.  35 

volume  of  light  upon  its  advantages:  Eighteen 
years  ago  the  North  of  England  iron  district  was 
in  a  state  of  anarchy,  resulting  from  the  social 
struggles  of  labor  against  capital.  A  terrible 
conflict  about  wages  paralyzed  the  trade.  The 
capital  invested  in  the  enormous  mines  and  iron 
lay  idle  for  months.  "  Crowds  of  hunger  smitten 
workmen  begged  for  bread  in  the  streets,  or 
savagely  denounced  the  capitalists  who  were 
trying  to  starve  them  into  submission."  There 
had  been  strikes  and  lock-outs  in  this  region 
before  that  of  1866,  but  that  year  saw  the  most 
horrible  of  all.  After  four  months  of  idleness, 
ruin,  and  disaster  for  all  concerned,  the  workmen 
were  compelled  to  work  at  their  employers'  terms. 
An  ill-natured,  malevolent  era  of  peace  followed. 
The  revival  of  trade  in  1869  brought  on  all  the 
old  symptoms  of  past  strife,  and,  filled  with  fear 
and  disgust,  workman  and  owner  waited  for  the 
storm  to  burst.  But  both  were  saved  by  the 
establishment  of  a  board  of  arbitrators,  which  has 
existed  successfully  ever  since.  By  this  simple 
but  effective  method  the  iron  trade  of  the  North 
of  England  rid  itself  forever  of  the  curses  of 
strikes  and  lock-outs.  And  there  are  now  no  fewer 
than  100,000  wageworkers  in  that  region  practi- 
cally secured  against  industrial  trouble  by  the 
adoption  of  the  principle  of  voluntary  arbitration. 


'?,(')  ARBITRATION. 

Principles,  which,  when  practically  api)lied, 
work  out  such  results,  are  worthy  of  the  best  con- 
sideration. They  appeal  to  our  better  humanity. 
The  spirit  of  the  times  puts  force  in  the  back- 
ground in  the  settlement  of  conflicts,  whether 
individual  or  international.  It  only  justifies  the 
appeal  to  force  and  arms  when  rights  cannot 
otherwise  be  protected  or  maintained.  The  pro- 
gress that  has  driven  duelling  from  society  makes 
nations  hesitate  before  warring  over  fanciful 
wrongs.  The  same  progress  condemns  labor 
taking  the  law  into  its  own  hands  for  the  redress 
of  its  wrongs.  This  suggests  a  question :  Why 
may  not  the  same  spirit  of  peace  that  is  over- 
spreading men  and  nations  enter  the  arena  of 
labor's  conflicts?  That  light  of  intellectual  ad- 
vancement, to  which  no  nook  or  corner  of  our 
race  is  impervious,  has  beamed  upon  the  man 
of  labor,  and  brightened  him  into  as  shining  a 
figure  as  the  man  of  capital.  This  is  truer  of  the 
American  laborer  than  of  any  other.  Here,  in 
the  civilization  of  a  new  world  and  a  new  era,  he 
is  a  factor  of  the  government  in  which  he  lives; 
and,  as  he  is  this,  it  is  the  grossest  injustice  to 
compel  him  to  hght  for  his  rights  in  an  uneven 
contest  against  capital. 

Labor  will  never  obtain  its  fullest  meed  of 
success  in  its  conflicts,  save  through  the  legitimate 


ARBITRATION.  37 

channel  of  intelligent  contest.  The  stubborn 
fight  which  is  determined  by  brute  endurance  or 
financial  backing  will  be  valueless  and  costly. 
When  the  workingman  meets  his  employer  with 
facts,  and  figures,  and  reason,  in  his  demand  for 
higher  wages,  he  will  win  his  point,  if  he  is  right. 
Society  and  public  opinion  will  see  that  he  does; 
if  he  is  not  right,  he  ought  not  to  win. 

Tribunals  to  ,try  the  disputes  between  labor 
and  capital  are  the  results  of  that  same  pro- 
gressive evolution  which  has  characterized  every 
branch  of  science,  art,  commerce,  and  industry. 
They  are  the  outgrowth  of  the  elevation  of  labor. 

A  long  time  ago,  in  1846,  the  ultimate  resort 
to  peaceful  settlement  was  prophesied  by  John 
Bright  in  his  speech  on  the  Factory  Bill.  Speak- 
ing, then,  he  said:  "The  working  classes  would 
every  day  become  more  and  more  powerful  and 
intelligent,  not  by  violent  combinations  or  colli- 
sions with  their  employers,  but  by  a  rational 
union  amongst  themselves,  by  reasoning  with 
their  employers,  and  by  the  co-operation  of  all 
classes." 


CHAPTER     III 


ARBITRATION  IN  FRANCE  AND  BELGIUM  — 
THE  "CONSEILS  DES  PRUDHOMMES" 
—  THE  ARBITRATION    ACT    OF   AUSTRIA. 


IT  was  late  in  the  history  of  humanity  before 
labor  was  crowned  with  freedom.  None  of 
the  ancient  nations  recognized  labor  as  any- 
thing but  slavery  in  one  form  or  another.  The 
condition  was  but  little  changed  for  centuries. 
England  was  subsequent  to  France  in  securing 
liberty  and  standing  to  the  laborer.  The  Magna 
Charta  of  English  liberties  had  no  application  to 
the  workers  by  hand  and  muscle.  It  was  a  gift 
to  the  barons  and  their  equals.  It  applied  to 
about  half  of  the  people  of  England  at  that  time; 
that  is,  those  who  were  freemen.  The  laborer 
was  a  villein,  and  a  villein  was  a  slave;  he  was 
not  considered  a  subject.  He  had  no  organiza- 
tion or  method  of  protection.  For  fifteen  centu- 
ries the  only  protector  the  laboring  man  had 
against  his  owners  and  masters  was  the  Church.: 

i 


ARBITRATIOX.  39 

She  stood,  the  enemy  of  the  oppressor  of  the 
poor,  and  she  stood  alone  in  her  protectorate. 
Afterwards,  wlien  the  working  classes  obtained 
representation  in  the  legislature,  they  found  in 
the  Parliament  and  lawyers  friends  and  pro- 
tectors. With  these  three  intercessors  the  laborer 
came  into  sunlight.  The  French  laborer  de- 
veloped rapidly;  and  it  is  to  France  that  we  must 
look  for  the  origin  of  industrial  arbitration.  In 
the  history  of  her  labor  she  furnishes  the  proto- 
types of  the  peace  and  contlict  of  the  trades 
of  to-day.  for  we  find  the  immense  strikes  of 
modern  times  foreshadowed  by  the  Jacquerie 
riots  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

Unquestionably  the  first  systematized  method 
of  settling  trade  disputes  in  industrial  history  is 
to  be  found  in  the  "  Conseils  des  Prudliommes.'"* 
This  institution  is  well  defined  in  the  law  of  its 
origin  (March  18.  1806)  as  follows:  -The  Cornells 
des  Pr/id'hommes  is  established  in  order  to  put  an 
end,  by  means  of  reconciliation,  to  the  small 
disputes  which  arise  daily,  either  between  em- 
ployers and  wcirkmen.  or  between  foremen  and 
workmen  and  apprentices."  These  courts  were 
established  by  Napoleon  at  the  petition  of  the 
workingmen  of  Lyons.  A  similar  institution 
had   existed    in    that   city   prior   to   the   passage 

•Councils  of  Wise  Men. 


40  ARBITRATION. 

of  tliis  general  law.  In  Lyons,  then,  may  be 
fixed  the  birth  of  arbitration.  And  it  is  fitting 
that  it  should  be  so.  This  city,  a  perfect  citadel 
of  labor,  is  the  chief  silk  emporium  of  France, 
and  for  the  manufacture  of  the  best  qualities 
of  silks  is  unrivalled.  It  has  thirty  thousand 
looms,  and  including  the  suburbs,  over  one 
hundred  thousand.  The  number  of  workers 
emploj'ed  there  in  the  silk  industry  at  the  present 
time  is  not  less  than  one  hundred  thousand.  A 
strike  is  a  rare  occurrence,  yet  disputes  are 
frequent;  but  through  the  agency  of  these  Conseih 
dcs  Prudliommes  they  are  settled  cheaply,  and 
without  much  loss  of  time  or  mone}"  to  either 
operators  or  operatives.  The  example  of  Lyons 
was  soon  followed  by  the  principal  cities  of 
France.  In  1807,  Conseils  des  Prudliommes  were 
established  at  Rouen  and  at  Nismes;  in  1808,  at 
Avignon,  Carcasonne,  Mulhouse,  St.  Quentin, 
Sedan,  Thiers,  and  Troyes;  in  1809  and  1810,  at 
Rheims,  Lille,  Marseilles,  and  many  smaller 
towns.  In  1813  there  were  twenty-seven  of  these 
courts  in  France,  and  in  1840  there  were  sixty- 
four.  Paris  established  its  first  council  December 
20,  1844.  They  have  been  increasing  yearly,  and 
ihcii-  careers  have  been  signalized  by  the  most 
satisfactory  results.  The  statistics  reveal  the 
fad,  that  '.10  per  cenl.  of  the  cases  brought  before 


I 


ARBITRATION.  41 

them  have  been  amicably  settled.  In  1847  there 
were  sixty-nine  of  these  councils  in  France,  and 
in  that  year  they  had  19,271  industrial  disputes 
submitted  to  them;  of  this  number,  17,951  were 
adjusted  by  conciliation.  In  1850,  of  28,000 
cases,  20,800  were  settled  by  conciliation.  The 
number  of  Conseils  des  PrucVhommes  in  1874 
Avas  112;  at  the  present  time  there  are  about 
150. 

The  history  of  the  Conseils  des  Prud'hommes* 
shows  that  the  struggle  of  the  workingman  in 
France  has  been  for  equality  with  his  employers. 
This  is  illustrated  by  the  decree  of  June  11,  1809: 
"  The  Conseils  des  PruxF hom.mes  will  be  composed 
of  masters  and  workmen;  but  in  no  case  will  the 
numher  of  the  latter  be  equal  to  that  of  the  former^ 
In  this  condition  the  workmen  were  at  the  mercy 
of  their  employers.  It  was  not  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  fair  play;  and  the  French  mechanic  is  a 
great  deal  like  the  American  —  he  wants  an  equal 
chance  in  all  his  conflicts.  He  struggled  against 
this;  and  in  1848,  when  almost  everything  was 
reorganized  in  France,  equal  representation  of 
labor    and    capital    was    made    the   basis    of    the 

*For  an  interesting  account  of  the  workings  and  history  of  the  Conseils 
des  Prud'hommes,  the  reader  is  referred  to  "An  Account  of  the  Legislation 
Affecting  Labor  and  the  Condition  of  the  Working  Classes  in  France,  by  M.  Louis 
Blanc,"   in  the  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Trade  Societies  of  Great  Britain 

—London,  18G0. 


42  ARBITRATION. 

council.  Therefore,  in  the  law  of  the  9th  of 
June,  1848,  it  was  enacted: 

"That  in  the  '  Conseils  des  Prudliommes '  the 
two  conflicting  interests  should  he  represented  by 
an  equal  number  of  employers  and  employed; 

"  That  this  number  should  be  neither  below 
six  nor  above  twenty-six,  and  should  in  every 
case  be  an  even  number; 

''That  the  ^Prud' homines'  belonging  to  the 
class  of  employers  should  be  elected  by  the  em- 
ployed from  a  list  of  candidates  presented  by  the 
employers ; 

"That  the  'Prud'hommes'  belonging  to  the 
class  of  employed  should  be  elected  by  the  em- 
ployers from  a  list  of  candidates  presented  by  the 
employed; 

"  That  in  the  event  of  the  votes  in  the  council 
being  ecjually  divided,  the  President  should  have 
a  casting  vote; 

"That  the  council  should  be  alternately  pre- 
sided over  by  an  employer  elected  by  the  em- 
ployed, and  by  an  employed  elected  by  the 
employers." 

The  method  of  electing  the  members  and  the 
ap})ointment  of  the  presidents  of  the  council 
were  changed  by  the  law  of  June,  1853,  and  by 
thai  it  was  left  to  the  employers  to  elect  their 
own  representatives,  and  (o  the  employed  to  elect 


J 


ARBITRATION.  43 

theirs;  and  the  appointment  of  the  President  and 
Vice-President  was  retained  by  the  government. 

At  present  each  council  consists  of  a  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President,  not  necessarily  either 
workmen  or  employers,  and  twelve  members,  six 
of  whom  are  elected  by  employers  and  six  by 
workmen.  This  board  or  council  has  cognizance 
of  all  controversies  arising  between  master- 
manufacturers  and  their  workmen,  and  also  be- 
tween the  latter  and  their  apprentices.  Under 
the  law  the  term  of  half  of  each  class  of  the 
board  expires  every  year.  It  is  the  first  duty 
of  this  court,  in  "case  of  a  disagreement,  to  sit  as 
a  court  of  conciliation;  and,  if  it  fails  to  bring 
the  parties  to  an  understanding,  it  has  the  power 
to  arbitrate  the  dispute.  On  all  matters  where 
two  hundred  francs  or  under  is  involved,  it  has 
final  jurisdiction,  but  in  higher  amounts  there  is 
a  right  of  appeal  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce; 
in  fact,  every  question,  except  that  of  future 
wages,  is  a  proper  one  for  the  Conseils  des  Prud'- 
liommes  to  consider.  The}^  may  even  consider 
this  question,  if  the  disputing  parties  so  agree. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  operation 
of  these  councils  is  not  strictly  voluntary.  The 
submission  is  voluntary,  but  the  processes  and 
enforcement  of  the  awards  are  sanctioned  by  the 
penalty  and  powers  of  the  law.     Yet  their  con- 


44  ARBITRATION. 

ciliatory  feature,  which  so  closely  resembles  the 
English  system,  is  purely  voluntary. 

Tlie  ol)Jectionable  feature,  especialh^  to  the 
American  workman,  is  the  intermeddling  of  the 
government  in  selecting  the  presiding  officer  or 
umpire.  In  this  there  is  a  radical  departure  in 
the  English  S3'stem  of  voluntar}^  arbitration, 
where  the  board  itself  selects  the  umpire.  There 
seems  to  have  been  a  political  object  in  the 
French  government  framing  the  law  thus.  M. 
Louis  Blanc,  in  his  letter  "  On  Legislation  Affect- 
ing Labor  in  France,"  says  of  this:  "I  must  give 
Napoleon  credit  for  using  this  weapon  in  such  a 
manner  as  is  calculated  to  wheedle  into  submis- 
sion to  his  sway  the  least  enlightened  portion 
of  the  working  classes;  for  the  watchword  of  the 
Presidents  in  the  Conseils  des  PrucVliommes  seems 
to  be,  since  the  Empire  was  re-established:  'Let 
us  turn  the  scale  in  favor  of  the  operatives;'  and 
I  have  it  from  workmen  thoroughl}^  acquainted 
with  all  that  refers  to  their  class,  that  whereas 
under  the  reign  of  Louis  Philippe  the  masters 
mostly  carried  their  causes,  it  is  just  the  reverse 
which  hap})ens  now,  the  imperial  policy  being  to 
indemnify  the  workingman  by  some  material 
advantages  for  the  loss  of  those  lofty  ennobling 
enjoyments,  which  man  derives  from  the  sense 
of  his  self-dependence  secured,  and  of  his  dignity 


ARBITRATION.  45 

unimpaired."  This  was  the  view  of  one  of  the 
most  eminent  agitators  of  the  labor  question  in 
1860.  The  answer  of  subsequent  years,  in  the 
marked  success  of  the  councils,  has  largely 
stripped  the  criticism  of  its  force. 

The  worth  of  arbitration  as  practiced  in 
France,  is  testified  to  in  the  Reports  of  Lord 
Lyons  in  1870,  "  Respecting  the  Condition  of  the 
Industrial  Classes  in  Foreign  Countries,"  the 
statement  on  French  labor  closes  as  follows: 

"  To  give  an  idea  of  the  success  of  the  Conseils 
des  Prud'hommes  in  terminating  disputes  by  rec- 
onciliation, it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  all  in- 
dustrial centres  in  which  such  courts  exist,  they 
effect  a  reconciliation  in  ninety-five  out  of  100 
cases  brought  before  them.  This  satisfactory 
result  is  easily  explained.  The  election  of  the 
Prudliommes  implies  the  confidence  of  the  elec- 
tors in  his  uprightness  and  capacity.  He  natu- 
rally exercises  with  a  kindly  zeal  the  functions 
which  have  been  awarded  to  him  by  his  equals  as 
a  mark  of  esteem;  his  voice  appeals  with  effect 
to  feelings  of  justice  and  moderation,  calms  the 
irritation  of  disputants,  and  diminishes  exagger- 
ated pretensions.  Above  all,  the  effect  of  his 
good  advice  is  not  prejudiced  by  the  professional 
pleading  of  counsel.  At  the  Bureau  de  Judg- 
ment,  as  well   as   at  the  Bureau  de   Conciliation, 


46  ARBTTRATION. 

tlie  parties  must  appear  in  person  without  the 
intervention  of  a  hiwyer."* 

The  workingmen  of  France,  through  their 
organized  unions,  have  given  to  their  courts  of 
arbitration  solid  and  substantial  encouragement 
and  api^roval.  This  alone  is  the  best  certificate 
of  tlieir  value.  And  yet  how  can  it  be  otherwise 
upon  the  exhibit  of  what  they  have  accom- 
plished? Lord  Brougham,  in  the  House  of 
I^rds  in  1859,  in  a  debate  on  strikes,  said:  "It 
was  impossible  to  read  the  annual  report  of  the 
Couseils  des  Prudliommes  without  wishing  to  see 
some  analagous  provisions  in  our  own  law."  His 
wish  was  afterwards  fulfilled. 

In  Belgium  the  French  system  is  adopted,  and 
under  the  same  name.  While  the  success  of  the 
councils  in  Belgium  is  not  the  same  as  in  France, 
they  have  been  of  incalculable  benefit.  The 
manner  of  operating  is  practically  the  same  in 
both  countries,  and  the  composition  and  juris- 
diction of  the  councils  are  similar.  There  is  a 
dillerence,  however,  in  this:  the  Belgian  Cfmscils 
de.s   Friidlioinmes    have    a   criminal    jurisdiction, 

*  Kach  council  has  a  Burcan  dc  Judgment  and  a  Bureau  de  Conciliation. 
The  lliirenu  dc  Jiidiimeiil  sits  once  a  week,  or  once  a  fortnight;  two-thirds  of 
the  council  form  a  court.  The  liurean  dc  Conciliation,  formed  of  one  Prud'- 
tiomnie  employer  and  one  Prud' hommc  workman,  may  be  said  to  sit  perma- 
nently, alwayx  ready  to  hear  complaints  and  to  transact  business  every  day. 
—  lieportu  ReHjtccling  the  Condition  oj  the  Industrial  Classes  in  Forei</n  Countries, 
Londtm,  1870. 


ARBITRATION.  47 

which  has  largely  impeded  their  progress  and 
usefulness.  They  are  clothed  with  a  police  court 
process,  which,  in  all  countries  where  arbitration 
has  been  tried,  has  proven  detrimental  to  peace 
between  labor  and  capital.  There  is  too  much 
of  the  machinery  of  the  law,  and  not  enough  left 
to  the  voluntary  spirit  of  the  workmen  and 
emplo3^ers. 

In  Austria,  by  the  law  of  May  14,  1859, 
arbitration  courts  were  established  in  every  im- 
portant town  and  district.  Their  function  is  to 
settle  all  disputes  respecting  wages,  continuance 
of  work,  fulfilment  of  contracts,  and  claims  on 
benefit  clubs  and  relief  funds.  They  are  com- 
posed of  workmen  and  employers,  each  elected  by 
their  own  class.  The  workmen  are  paid  by  the 
commune  for  every  day's  sitting.  The  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  arbitration  courts  extends  to  the  usual 
subjects  of  dispute  in  the  trades.  Their  awards 
have  the  force  and  effect  of  judgments  of  courts. 
Legal  and  compulsory  process  can  be  issued  for 
the  purposes  of  investigation. 

The  uniform  history  of  arbitration  in  France, 
Austria,  and  Belgium  has  been  that  of  elevation 
of  labor.  While  the  lot  of  the  workingman  in 
those  countries  in  no  way  approaches  the  inde- 
pendence and  position  of  his^  American  brother, 
it  is  far  ahead  of  what  it  might  be;   yes,  what  it 


48  AKI'.ITRATION. 

liiis  \)vvn,  wlicii  he  depended  on  the  wager  of 
striking  for  a  remedy  for  his  wrongs.  In  Austria 
these  courts  are  tlie  real  and  only  methods  of  the 
workingman's  defense.  The  law  makes  strikes 
and  lock-outs  illegal.  Combinations  by  manu- 
facturers and  all  other  employers,  to  control  trade 
or  lower  wages,  are  made  penal  offenses.  The 
same  is  true  of  combinations  of  workmen,  to 
organize  strikes  or  raise  wages.  Hence  the  neces- 
sity and  advantage  of  their  arbitration  courts. 
But,  as  was  before  remarked,  there  is  too  much 
governmental  control  to  suit  the  American  work- 
man. Such  courts  would  not  operate  in  this 
country,  or  even  in  England,  but  their  history  is 
a  step  in  the  progressive  march  of  labor  to  the 
forum  of  judgment  and  reason.  They  are,  doubt- 
less, the  best  institutions  for  the  countries  in 
which  they  exist.  And  they  prove  that  the 
verdict  of  an  ojien  and  fair  trial  is  preferable  to  a 
conciiK'st  wrung  from  unwilling  hands,  ofttimes 
at  fearful  cost. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


ANTHONY    J.     MUNDELLA,    THE     FOUNDER 
OF    ENGLISH    ARBITRATION. 


THE  life  of  Anthony  John  Mundelhi,  dis- 
tinguished by  Henry  Crompton  as  "  the 
inventor  of  systematic  industrial  concilia- 
tion," is  an  appropriate  and  necessar}^  introduc- 
tion to  the  history  of  voluntary  arbitration  in 
England. 

His  career  in  the  English  Parliament,  as  the 
representative  of  Sheffield,  which  commenced  in 
1868,  stamped  him  as  a  radical  champion  of  the 
rights  of  labor. 

He  is  of  half  Italian  and  half  English  an- 
cestry, and  was  born  at  Leicester  in  1825.  A 
scion  of  that  wide  nobility  —  the  common  people, 
his  whole  life  is  an  index  of  his  origin.  He  com- 
menced life  as  a  "  printer's  devil,"  but  through 
its  early  stages  accumulated  b}'  indefatigable 
industry  a  valuable  education.  At  the  age  of 
eleven  years   he  was  apprenticed   to  the  hosiery- 


")()  ARBITRATION. 

trade,  in  ^\■llicll  he  remained  until  his  eighteenth 
year.  His  business  capacity  and  intelligence 
attracted  the  attention  of  his  employers,  and  in 
his  nineteenth  year  he  was  engaged  as  manager 
of  a  large  cotton  trade  enterprise.  When  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  at  Nottingham  he  became 
partner  in  one  of  the  largest  hosiery  firms  in 
England,  Hone,  Mundella  &  Co.  In  this  capacity 
he  was  the  employer  of  three  thousand  working- 
men.  It  was  here  that  he  displayed  that  broad 
Christianity  and  wise  economy  which  have  made 
his  name  a  lasting  one  in  the  history  of  British 
industry. 

In  1S(')()  he  conceived  and  put  into  practical 
operation  the  first  attempt  at  voluntary  arbitra- 
tion in  P^ngland.  The  hosiery  trade  at  that  time 
was  paralyzed  and  torn  with  industrial  strifes. 
Employers  and  workingmen  were  at  "  swords' 
points,"  and  the  only  mutuality  between  them 
was  that  of  distrust  and  malevolence.  The 
season  of  eleven  weeks  was  rife  with  strikes  and 
lock-outs;  and  it  was  out  of  this  state  of  affairs 
that  the  Nottingham  Board  of  Arbitration  and 
Conciliation  sprung  up.  After  considering  the 
serious  condition  of  trade  and  industry,  Mr. 
Mundella  evolved  a  remedy.  Says  he,  in  his 
testimony  before  the  Trades  Union's  Commission 
in   bSCT:    "  1  had  heard  of  the  Coiimih  des  Pnid'- 


ARBITRATION.  51 

liommes  in  France;  and  with  one  or  two  others  I 
built  up  a  scheme  in  my  imagination  of  what  I 
thought  might  be  done  to  get  a  good  under- 
standing with  our  men,  and  regulate  wages." 

The  employers  held  a  meeting,  and  appointed 
a  conference  committee  of  three  from  their  num- 
ber to  meet  with  the  workingmen. 

The  result  is  given  in  Mr.  Mundella's  own 
way:  "We  three  met  perhaps  a  dozen  leaders 
of  the  trades  union,  and  we  consulted  with  these 
men ;  told  them  that  the  present  plan  was  a  bad 
one,  that  it  seemed  to  us  that  they  took  every 
advantage  of  us  when  we  had  a  demand,  and  we 
took  ever}^  advantage  of  them  when  trade  was 
bad,  and  it  was  a  system  mutually  predatory. 
And  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  so;  we  pressed 
down  the  price  as  low  as  we  could,  and  they 
pressed  up  the  price  as  high  as  they  could.  This 
often  caused  a  strike  in  pressing  it  down,  and  a 
strike  in  getting  it  up;  and  these  strikes  were 
most  ruinous  and  injurious  to  all  parties,  because, 
when  we  might  have  been  supplying  our  cus- 
tomers, our  machinery  was  idle;  and  we  suggested 
whether  we  could  not  try  some  better  scheme. 
Well,  the  men  were  very  suspicious  at  first; 
indeed,  it  is  impossible  to  describe  to  you  how 
suspiciously  we  looked  at  each  other.  Some 
of   the   manufacturers    also   deprecated    our    pro- 


52  ARBITRATION. 

ceedings,  and  said  we  were  degrading  them  and 
humiliating  them,  and  so  on.  However,  we  had 
some  ideas  of  our  own,  and  we  went  on  with 
them;  and  we  sketched  out  what  we  called  a 
Board  of  Arbitration  and  Conciliation." 

Thus  was  instituted  the  first  voluntary  tribu- 
nal of  trade  disputes  in  England,  and  it  became 
known  as  "  The  Board  of  Arbitration  and  Concil- 
iation in  the  Clove  and  Hosiery  Trade."  It  held 
its  first  meeting  at  Nottingham,  December  3, 
1860,  and  was  a  harbinger  of  many  others. 

The  reign  of  peace  was  a  reign  of  success. 
Ten  years  later,  in  the  Contemporary  Review,  Mr. 
Mundella  reviews  his  woi-k  as  follows:  "  Since  the 
27th  of  September,  1860,  there  has  not  been  a 
l)ill  of  an}'  kind  issued.  Strikes  are  at  an  end, 
also.  Levies  to  sustain  them  are  unknown;  and 
one  shilling  a  year  from  each  member  suffices  to 
pay  all  expenses.  This  —  not  a  farthing  of  which 
comes  out  of  the  pocket  of  their  masters  —  is 
equivalent  to  a  large  advance  of  wages.  I  have 
inspected  the  balance  sheet  of  a  trades  union 
of  ten  thousand  three  hundred  men,  and  I  found 
the  expenditures  for  thirteen  months  to  amount 
to  less  than  one  hundred  pounds." 

'I'lic  success  of  the  Nottingham  arbitration 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  public;  and  it  was 
recognized  tluit  at  least  one  step  had  been  taken 


ARBITRATION.  *  53 

for  the  abolition  of  labor  strikes  and  struggles. 
Mr.  Mundella  received  invitations  from  many 
towns,  notably  Sheffield,  to  lecture  upon  his 
system  of  voluntary  arbitration.  No  other  city 
in  England  had  suffered  in  her  trade  so  much 
from  trade  disputes  as  Sheffield.  Her  working- 
classes  and  employers  hailed  with  cheer  this 
application  of  new  principles  to  industry.  They 
were  tired  of  the  many  fruitless  fights  in  which 
they  had  engaged.  And  they  not  only  gladly 
listened  to  the  new  gospel  of  Mundella,  but  in 
1868  they  demanded  that  he  stand  as  one  of  their 
candidates  for  Parliament.  This  he  did,  and  was 
elected,  running  largely  "  ahead  of  his  ticket." 

He  entered  Parliament  representing  the  work- 
ingmen  of  Sheffield,  yet  clothed  in  his  own 
modesty.  And  right  faithfully  in  his  whole 
political  life  has  he  stood  by  the  interests  of  his 
constituents.  By  the  thoroughness  and  practi- 
cality of  his  speeches,  he  soon  became  an  ac- 
knowledged leader.  His  speech  on  the  Education 
Bill  was  the  most  important  in  the  debate,  so 
says  Mr.  Gladstone.  It  ought  to  have  been.  Mr. 
Mundella  had  investigated  by  personal  examina- 
tion the  school  systems  of  the  United  States, 
Germany,  Switzerland,  and  Holland.  In  his 
advanced  and  honored  position  he  never  forgot 
the  condition  of  his  fellow  toilers  whom  he  had 


54  ARBITRATION. 

left  beliind.  He  worked  indefatigably  night  and 
day  to  re})('al  the  Criminal  Law  Amendment  Act, 
which  bore  heavily  and  unjustly  upon  workmen. 
The  Factor}'  Nine  Hour  Bill  had  no  stronger 
advocate  and  friend  in  all  Parliament.  To  Mr. 
jNIundella,  more  than  any  other  one  man,  can  be 
credited  the  repeal  of  the  former  and  the  passage 
of  the  latter. 

If  a  comparison  should  be  wanted  in  Ameri- 
can public  life  for  Mr.  jMundella,  no  character 
would  be  better  suited  for  that  purpose  than 
Thaddeus  Stevens.  The  eminent  Sheffield  Lib- 
eral possesses  all  the  tenacity  and  stubl^orn  con- 
scientiousness of  the  Pennsylvania  Commoner. 
The  fealty  of  Mundella  to  the  interests  of  the 
common  people  has  made  him  one  of  their 
tribunes.  His  position  as  the  father  of  volun- 
tary arbitration  has  made  him  a  benefactor  to  the 
laboring  classes.  And  they  knew  it,  too,  for  right 
royally  have  they  stood  by  him  in  sustaining  his 
Parliamentarv  career.  The  motive  which  has 
prompted  him  to  place  so  much  confidence  in  the 
workingman  when  dealing  with  his  employer, 
seems  to  contiol  liis  political  life.  His  speech  at 
Newcastle-on-Tyne,  in  November,  1884,  during 
the  Franchise  Pill  agitation,  was  worthy  of  the 
primest  American.  "  Enfranchise  the  people; 
and  after  you  have  enfranchised  the  peoi)le,  they 


ARBITRATION.  55 

themselves  are  the  best  judges  in  what  manner 
they  shall  nse  their  power." 

Mr.  Mundella,  in  his  public  career,  has  given 
his  sympathy  to  the  class  from  which  he  sprung; 
at  the  same  time  he  strongly  discountenances  any 
preaching  of  the  doctrine  of  antagonism  between 
capital  and  labor.  He  is  emphatically  a  peace 
advocate  in  labor  struggles.  By  his  own  life  and 
experience  he  has  demonstrated  that  violent 
disputes  between  employer  and  workmen  can 
readily  be  dispensed  with  when  both  parties 
exercise  good  judgment  and  fair  play. 


CHAPTER    V. 


RISE     AND      DEVELOPMENT     OF     ENGLISH 
INDUSTRIAL     ARBITRATION. 


TO  the  American  student  of  industrial  arbi- 
tration, the  history  of  English  labor  forms 
the  starting  point  for  all  theories,  plans, 
and  argument  concerning  it.  While  the  social 
and  political  condition  of  working  classes  in 
England  in  no  way  approaches  that  of  the  Amer- 
ican workingman,  there  is  no  other  country  of 
Europe,  at  the  present  time,  where  capital  and 
labor  are  nearer  on  a  level.  But  it  has  been  a 
long  and  l)itter  struggle  to  bring  about  this  condi- 
tion. English  capital  has  been  a  severe  task- 
master. Cruel,  powerful,  and  enslaving  methods 
have  l)een  its  most  common  Aveapons;  and  it  has 
only  been  within  the  past  score  of  years  that 
lal)or  has  received  even  a  })ortion  of  its  dues,  and 
then  only  has  it  been  by  that  agitation  which  has 
summ()n(Mi  capital  to  the  bar  of  i)ublic  opinion  to 
hear  the  cliiinis  and  petitions  of  the  wagewoi'kers. 


ARBITRATION.  57 

By  the  power  of  co-operation,  organization,  and 
arbitration,  a  repetition  of  the  tyranny  of  past 
years  has  been  made  impossible. 

To  read  of  the  rise  and  development  of  the 
principle  of  arbitration  in  England,  is  necessary 
to  a  just  appreciation  of  the  principle  itself.  To 
this  end  it  is  my  purpose  to  present  a  succinct 
statement  of  its  progress.  Mr.  Weeks'  Report 
has  been  of  much  assistance  in  giving  the  present 
relationship  of  voluntary  arbitration  and  concili- 
ation to  labor;  it  is  invaluable  in  studying  this 
question. 

The  beginning  of  the  era  of  peace  in  the  trade 
disputes  of  English  industry  may  be  fixed  in  the 
year  1860.  It  was  in  that  year  that  Mr.  Mundella 
first  made  practical  the  theory  of  settling  a  labor 
difficulty  without  a  strike  or  a  lock-out.  The 
hosiery  and  glove  trade,  with  which  he  had  been 
long  connected,  is  concentrated  in  Nottingham 
and  immediate  vicinity.  For  years,  almost  cent- 
uries, the  struggles  of  violence  were  common 
events  between  employers  and  employed.  A  not 
unusual  weapon  of  retaliation  used  by  the  work- 
ingmen  was  to  destroy  the  machinery  of  the 
manufacturer.  This  violence,  growing  out  of  the 
disputes  of  labor  and  capital,  made  it  necessary 
for  Parliament  to  punish  machine  breaking  with 
death.     In  the  year  1810  six  persons  suffered  the 


1 

58  ARBITRATION. 

death  penalty  for  tliis  offense.  From  1710,  espe- 
c-iallv,  u})  to  ISCtO,  the  condition  of  the  relations 
of  labor  and  capital  was  that  of  contending 
military  forces.  These  were  times  of  peace;  but 
these  were  seasons  of  truce  rather  than  of  good 
feeling.  In  1860  there  were  three  strikes  in  the 
hosiery  trade;  and  out  of  the  state  of  affaii's 
resulting  from  these  conflicts  Mr.  Mundella  con- 
ceived, and  carried  into  practical  operation,  his 
"Board  of  Arbitration  and  Conciliation  in  the 
Glove  and  Hosiery  Trade,"  mentioned  in  the 
preceding  chapter. 

The  rules  adopted  by  his  board  thus  created, 
are  a  model  of  all  that  is  desired  in  a  peaceful 
adjustment  of  disputes.  They  have  been  satis- 
factory from  the  first,  and  have  scarcely  been 
amended  at  all  since  their  adoption.  I  deem 
them  of  sufficient  historical  importance  in  this 
matter  of  arbitration,  to  be  given  to  the  reader 
entire,  as  the  first  successful  basis  for  voluntary 
arbitration  in  England. 

1.  That  a  board  of  trade  be  formed,  to  be 
styled  ''The  Board  of  Arbitration  and  Concilia- 
tion for  the  Hosiery  and  (Hove  P)ranches.  " 

2.  That  the  object  of  said  board  shall  be  to 
arliitrate  on  any  questions  relating  to  wages  that 
may  l)e  referred  to  it  from  time  to  time  by  the 
eiii|»l(»yei-s    oi'    operatives,    and    by    conciliatory 


ARBITRATION.  59 

means  to  interpose  its  influence  to  put  an  end  to 
any  disputes  that  may  arise. 

3.  The  board  to  consist  of  eleven  maiui- 
facturers  and  eleven  operatives.  The  operatives 
to  be  elected  by  a  meeting  of  the  respective 
branches.  The  manufacturers  to  be  elected  by  a 
public  meeting  of  their  own  body.  The  whole 
of  the  deputies  to  serve  for  one  year,  and  to  be 
eligible  for  re-election.  The  new  council  to 
be  elected  in  the  month  of  January,  in  each 
year. 

4.  That  each  delegate  attend  the  board  with 
full  powers  from  his  own  branch,  and  that  the 
decision  of  the  board  shall  be  considered  binding 
upon  the  branch  he  represents. 

5.  That  a  committee  of  inquiry,  consisting 
of  four  members  of  the  board,  shall  inquire  into 
au}^  cases  referred  to  it  by  the  secretaries.  Such 
committee  to  use  its  influence  in  the  settlement 
of  disputes.  If  unable  amicably  to  adjust  the 
business  referred  to  it,  it  shall  be  remitted  to  the 
board  for  settlement;  but  in  no  case  shall  the 
committee  make  any  award.  The  committee  to 
be  appointed  annually. 

6.  That  the  board  shall,  at  its  annual  meet- 
ing, elect  a  President,  Vice-President,  and  two 
Secretaries,  who  shall  continue  in  office  one  year, 
and  be  eligible  for  re-election. 


60  ARBITRATION. 

7.  That  the  board  shall  meet  for  the  trans- 
action of  business  once  a  quarter;  viz.,  the  first 
^londay  in  January,  April,  July,  and  October; 
but  on  a  requisition  to  the  President,  signed  by 
three  members  of  the  board,  specifying  the  nature 
of  the  business  to  be  transacted,  he  shall,  within 
seven  days,  convene  a  meeting  of  its  members. 
The  circular  calling  such  meeting  shall  specify 
the  nature  of  the  business  for  consideration,  pro- 
vided that  such  business  has  first  been  submitted 
to  the  committee  of  inquiry,  and  left  undecided 
b}'  them. 

8.  That  all  complaints  submitted  to  the  board 
for  their  investigation  be  submitted  in  writing, 
stating,  as  clearly  as  possible,  the  nature  of  the 
grievance  complained  of;  such  statement  to  be 
sent  at  least  one  week  prior  to  the  board  meeting. 

9.  That,  prior  to  any  advance  or  reduction  in 
the  rate  of  wages  being  considered  by  the  board, 
a  month's  notice  shall  be  given  in  writing  to  the 
Secretar3%  that  such  change  is  desired. 

10.  That  the  President  shall  preside  over  the 
meetings  of  the  board,  and,  in  his  absence,  the 
\'ice-President;  in  the  absence  of  both  President 
and  Vice-President,  a  Chairman  shall  be  elected 
by  a  majority  present.  The  Chairman  to  have  a 
vote,  and  in  case  of  members  being  ecjual,  tlie 
Cliairinaii  to  have  the  casting  vote. 


ARBITRATION.  01 

11.  That  any  expense  incurred  by  this  board 
be  borne  equally  by  the  operatives  and  employers. 

12.  That  no  alteration  or  addition  be  made 
to  these  rules,  except  at  a  quarterly  meeting,  or  a 
special  meeting  convened  for  the  purpose.  Notice 
of  any  proposed  alteration  shall  be  given  in 
writing  one  month  previous  to  such  meetings. 

These  rules,  it  will  be  observed,  embraced  the 
principle  of  conciliation  as  well  as  arbitration. 
The  "committee  of  inquiry"  of  section  5,  were 
conciliators;  their  mission  was  similar  to  the 
Bureau  de  Conciliation  of  the  ConseAls  des  Prud'- 
Jwmmes.  The  presiding  officer  gave  the  casting 
vote  in  case  of  a  tie;  but  that  was  changed  after- 
wards so  as  to  leave  the  casting  vote  in  the  hands 
of  an  umpire,  who  was  selected  from  outside  the 
board  by  the  members,  when  they  failed  to  agree 
among  themselves. 

While  this  Nottingham  board  was  the  first 
successful  permanent  and  systematic  board  of 
arbitration  in  England,  it  must  be  said  that 
settlements  in  trade  disputes  had  been  made  prior 
to  this;  but  most  of  the  boards  of  these  instances 
were  simply  temporary  committees  for  the  special 
dispute.  Yet  there  were  arbitration  boards  com- 
posed of  workmen  and  employers  in  many  trades, 
especially  the  Scottish.  The  Scottish  Miners' 
Association  was  founded  in  1852.    The  object  was 


I')2  AKHITHATION. 

tlio  jn'otection  of  miners'  rights  and  privileges. 
Tln'ir  rules  provided  that  "  if  at  any  time  the 
work  or  workmen  tlierein  find  it  necessary  to 
strike  foi"  an  advance  of  wages,  or  from  any  other 
cause,  the  district  committee  shall  refer  the  matter 
to  a  working  arbitration."  The  rules  are  silent 
as  to  the  method  of  arbitrating.  The  most 
sensible  and  conciliatory  union  of  thirty  years 
ago  was  that  of  the  Glasgow  Tailors.  That  trade 
has  be(Mi  remarkably  free  from  strikes.  I  take 
my  view  from  their  reports  up  to  1857.  Nearer 
to  the  Nottingham  system  of  arbitration  than 
any  other  trade,  seems  the  board  of  arbitrators 
of  the  (xlasgow  tailors.  Their  admirable  pro- 
visions for  settling  disputes  are  given  in  rules  11 
and  21  of  the  union.     These  are  as  follows: 

"This  Society  being  established  upon  princi- 
ples of  strict  justice,  having  for  its  object  the 
protection  and  furtherance  of  the  interests  of 
both  employers  and  employed,  it  is  desirable  that 
all  disputes  which  may  arise  between  them 
should  l)e  submitted  to  arbitration,  as  the  most 
speedy  and  equitable  way  of  arriving  at  a  con- 
clusion: and  it  shall  be  the  constant  aim  of  the 
Society  to  see  that  tliis  desire  be,  as  far  as  practi- 
cable, carried  out.  *  *  *  ]n  the  event  of  any 
dispute  arising,  the  men  shall  first  reason  the 
matter  with    the  employer;    and,  if   unsuccessful, 


ARBITRATION.  03 

tliev  shall  immediately  thereafter  inform  the 
committee  of  the  same,  who  will  use  their  best 
endeavors  to  bri-ng  about  an  amicable  adjustment 
of  the  case.  -^  *  *  The  arbiters  shall  consist 
of  an  ec|ual  number  of  employers  and  emplo3'ed, 
whose  decision  shall  be  final,  the  disputants  first 
subscribing  a  minute  of  submission,  binding 
themselves  to  abide  by  the  same,  or  an  agreement 
binding  them  to  enter  into  a  regular  submission 
when  required,  containing  the  usual  clauses." 

The  Glasgow  potters,  up  to  1860,  were  remark- 
ably free  from  strikes.  The  last  general  strike 
Avas  in  1836,  and  was  a  terrible  ordeal  for  manu- 
facturers and  workmen,  and  long  recollected  b}^ 
the  latter  with  dread.  From  reports  to  the 
■  National  Association  for  the  Promotion  of 
Science,"  which  held  its  Fourth  Annual  Meeting 
at  Glasgow,  in  1860,  it  is  found  that  one  of  the 
main  causes  of  the  absence  of  strikes  in  the 
"potteries"  is  the  yearly  agreement  between 
workmen  and  employers  as  to  arbitration.  The 
clause  is  as  follows:  "If  any  dispute  arise  be- 
tween the  parties  as  to  the  prices  or  wages  to  be 
paid  by  virtue  of  such  agreement,  the  dispute 
shall  be  referred  to  an  arbitration  board  of  six 
persons,  to  consist  of  three  manufacturers  chosen 
by  the  masters,  and  three  working  potters  elected 
by  the  workingmen."     Tlie  success  of  this  method 


64  ARBITRATION. 

can  be  seen  from  the  report  to  the  Association: 
"This  arbitration  clause  has  been  much  tried, 
and  has  worked  most  successfully  in  ninety  out 
of  one  hundred  cases."*  In  the  long  series  of 
struggles  on  labor  disputes  prior  to  1860,  we  find 
many  instances  of  efforts  at  arbitration.  I  have 
cited  the  foregoing  as  examples.  The  workmen 
in  a  majority  of  cates  favored  a  submission  to 
arbiters,  thus  showing  a  faith  in  the  justice  of 
their  claims.  To  the  discredit  of  the  masters, 
they  refused  to  submit  their  position  to  any  such 
investigation. 

All  this  arbitration  referred  to  was  voluntary. 
It  was  resorted  to  through  the  mutual  action 
of  the  employers  and  employed.  As  far  as  it  was 
tried  it  was  satisfactory.  The  only  instances  of 
successful  settlements  have  always  been  of  a 
voluntary  nature. 

It  was  but  natural  that  the  agitation  of  such  a 
question  should  attract  the  attention  of  legis- 
late )i-s  and  statesmen,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
a  l»ill  was  introduced  into  Parliament  providing 
for  the  establishment  of  tribunals  to  try  labor 
disputes.  ^Ir.  Mackinnon,  M.  P.,  in  1859  pre- 
sented his  "  Bill  for  the  Establishment  of  Courts 
of  Conciliation  for  tlie  Adjustment  of  Differences 


•  See  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Trades  Societies;  Proceedings  of  National 
Association  for  the  Promotion  of  Social  Science.— Lowdon,  ISGO. 


A 


ARBITRATION.  05 

between  Masters  and  Operatives,"  This  provided 
for  a  system  of  arbitration,  but  it  was  permissive 
or  voluntary  as  to  the  erection  of  such.  And, 
strange  as  it  may  appear  in  the  light  of  subse- 
quent history,  the  trade  combinations  of  Sheffield 
strenuously  opposed  its  passage  as  being  objec- 
tionable, because  its  courts  were  voluntary  and 
not  compulsory.  When  we  reflect  that  afterwards 
Parliament  passed  laws  providing  for  legal  arbi- 
tration, and  that  under  them  no  arbitration  has 
ever  taken  place,  it  only  shows  the  fluctuating 
view  workmen  often  take  of  their  position. 

The  Mackinnon  Bill  never  passed.  It  was 
objected  to  in  the  House  of  Lords;  and  thus  the 
first  attempt  to  create  a  legal  board  to  adjudicate 
trade  disputes  in  England  failed.  While  the  bill 
was  pending,  and  while  the  Social  Science  Con- 
gress was  in  session  at  Glasgow  expressing  grave 
doubts  as  to  practical  arbitration,  Mr.  Mundella 
was  quietly  operating  his  own  splendid  method. 

The  Wolverhampton  system  of  arbitration 
and  conciliation,  so  called  on  account  of  its  first 
aj)plication  at  that  place,  was  adopted  in  the 
building  trades  there  about  three  years  after  the 
Nottingham  system  was  originated.  Judge 
Rupert  Kettle,  of  Worcestershire,  was  the  advo- 
cate and  principal  supporter  of  this  method  of 
arl)itration,  and  he  has  for  years  been  a  zealous 

5 


66  ARBITRATION. 

and    able   advocate   of    this    peaceful   contest   of 
labor  and  capital. 

The  building  trades  of  Wolverhampton,  Viki 
all  the  rest  of  English  trades  up  to  the  intro-^ 
duction  of  arbitration,  had  been  subject  to  coi 
troversies  as  to  wages  and  customs,  which  in| 
variably  resulted  in  strikes  and  lock-outs.  Thj 
last  strike,  which  continued  seventeen  weeks,  wj 
in  1863,  and  it  crippled  the  industries  of  th^ 
town  and  vicinity  very  seriously.  Capital  wa^ 
timid  and  feared  to  invest;  labor  was  sullen  and* 
seeking  revenge.  The  strike  finallv  terminated, 
but  signs  of  dissatisfaction  and  further  trouble 
\vere  apparent  at  the  beginning  of  the  building 
season  of  1864.  The  citizens  and  tradesmen  of 
Wolverhampton,  through  the  Mayor,  finally  called 
a  meeting  of  the  workmen  and  employers,  to 
take  into  consideration  the  feasibility  of  settling 
their  disputes  otherwise  than  through  the  medium 
of  a  strike.  The  result  of  this  meeting,  which 
was  held  on  the  14th  of  March,  1864,  was  that 
the  carpenters  appointed  six  delegates  to  meet 
with  six  delegates  of  the  employers,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  settling  the  impending  difficulties.  A 
week  afterwards  these  twelve  delegates  met  and 
selected  an  umpire,  who  should  have  the  deciding 
vote  in  case  of  a  tie  on  the  questions  before  them. 
The  umpire  chosen  was  Mr.  Kettle,  who  was,  U) 


ARBITRATION.  67 

quote  from  one  who  knows  him  well,  "  remarkable 
for  very  vigorous  analysis  and  skilful  unravelling 
of  complicated  facts."  His  judicial  temperament 
and  well  known  integrity  inspired  the  disputing 
parties  with  confidence  in  his  adaptability  to  the 
position.  Briefly  stated,  the  arbitration  worked 
to  a  charm.  The  award  of  the  board  was  cheer- 
fully accepted  by  masters  and  men;  and  the  loss 
of  time,  money,  and  contentment  incumbent  upon 
every  strike  was  averted  to  the  great  jo}^  of  all 
concerned.  The  Wolverhampton  method  was 
worked  out  and  systematized  by  Judge  Kettle 
without  being  acquainted  with  the  features  of  Mr. 
Mundella's  Nottingham  plan.  It  had  some  points 
superior  to  the  latter.  For  instance,  one  of  the 
distinguishing  articles  of  Judge  Kettle's  method 
was  to  select  the  umpire  outside  of  the  board. 
He  was  a  permanent  standing  arbitrator.  This 
was  a  decided  advantage.  A  judge  selected  in 
time  of  harmony  will  have  the  confidence  of  the 
disputants  much  more  than  if  he  was  selected 
(hiring  a  pending  discussion.  Judge  Kettle's 
board  formed  a  set  of  rules  for  each  working- 
establishment,  and  compliance  with  these  rules 
was  the  essence  of  the  contract  of  hiring.  A 
radical  weakness  of  the  Wolverhampton  method 
was  the  absence  of  the  conciliation  feature  in  the 
board.      Upon    tlie    slightest   dispute   concerning 


68  ARBITRATION. 

the  rules,  wages,  or  other  matter,  it  was  necessary 
for  the  entire  board  to  assemble  and  pass  upon 
the  matter  in  dispute  formally.  It  can  be  readily 
seen  that  one  of  the  most  effective  instruments 
for  peace  between  employer  and  employed,  is  the 
conciliatory  feature  of  arbitration.  The  powers 
of  conciliation,  however,  were  afterwards  added, 
and,  according  to  Judge  Kettle,  have  been  "  found 
in  practice  more  useful  than  the  arbitration 
rule." 

Both  of  these  systems,  the  Nottingham  and 
Wolverhampton,  advocated  by  Mr.  Mundella  and 
Judge  Kettle  respectively,  have  formed  the  basis 
for  all  the  voluntary  arbitration  now  in  force  in 
England.  The  spirit  of  these  systems  has  spread; 
and  now  in  the  most  important  and  wide-spread 
industries  of  that  country  strikes  are  a  relic  of  a 
past  barbaric  era.  If  they  are  not  entirely 
abandoned,  they  are,  at  least,  rarely  heard  of. 

The  iron  industry  of  England  is  its  staff  of 
industrial  life.  For' years  the  mill  workers  and 
miners  were  so  oppressed  by  the  ironmasters  that 
a  strike  in  an  iron  district  was  almost  a  civil  war. 
It  meant  lawlessness,  vandalism,  bloodshed,  and 
misery.  This  was  especially  so  in  the  North  of 
England  iron  trade,  to  Avhich  I  have  before 
referred.  For  sixteen  years  the  disputes  of  labor 
and  capital  in  the  rolling  mills  of  England  have 


ARBITRATION.  69 

been  settled  by  arbitration,  and  it  has  been  an 
era  remarkably  free  from  strikes.  The  board  of 
arbitration  for  the  North  of  England  iron  busi- 
ness was,  as  all  efforts  of  this  kind  usually  are, 
the  outgrowth  of  a  strike.  It  was  formed  on 
March  22,  1869.  It  is  a  permanent  institution, 
and  has  the  usual  equal  representation  of  em- 
ployers and  employed,  as  well  as  the  conciliation 
committee  taken  from  the  members  of  the  board; 
in  truth,  arbitration  in  its  just  and  full  applica- 
tion must  necessarily  be  about  alike  in  all  systems 
and  trades.  Speaking  of  this  board,  Mr.  Weeks, 
in  his  report,  says:  "At  the  close  of  1875,  it 
represented  thirty-five  works  and  13,000  sub- 
scribed operatives.  These  works  had  1,913  pud- 
dling furnaces  —  more  than  all  Pennsylvania,  and 
half  as  many  as  the  entire  United  States.  During 
the  year  1875  the  standing  committee  investigated 
forty  disputes.  Since  its  organization  there  have 
been  eight  or  nine  arbitrations  on  the  general 
questions  of  wages,  and  scores  of  references  in 
regard  to  special  adjustment  of  wages  at  partic- 
ular works."  The  awards  of  the  board  from  1869 
to  1874  in  fixing  wages  have  been  freely  and 
honorably  accepted  without  a  single  repudiation; 
and  this  has  been  uniform,  both  in  the  decrease 
and  the  increase  of  wages.  The  justice  and 
necessity  of   a  change  of  wages  must  have  been 


70  ARBITRATION, 

ver}^  apparent  to  the  board  before  an  alteration 
would  be  decided  upon. 

A  similar  board  was  organized  in  the  South 
StafFordshire  iron  business,  but  it  did  not  prove 
as  effectual  for  good  as  that  of  the  North  of 
England.  This  was  owing  to  a  dispute  between 
trade  unionists  and  outsiders.  The  labor  parties 
represented  undertook  to  deny  admission  to  the 
board  of  non-unionists,  and  as  a  result  it  failed. 
The  right  principle  in  arbitration  makes  no  dis- 
tinction between  labor  of  au}^  kind;  if  that  is  not 
done,  and  the  formation  of  the  arbitration  tribu- 
nal is  to  be  controlled  by  trade  unions,  it  ceases 
to  have  that  feature  of  independent  justice  neces- 
sary to  success.  Since  the  failure  of  the  first 
attempt  on  a  trade  union  basis,  there  was  organ- 
ized in  1875  "The  South  StafFordshire  Iron  Trade 
Conciliation  Board,"  with  the  objectionable  points 
of  the  old  board  left  out.  It  has  operated  with 
success.  In  October,  1878,  the  market  required 
the  usual  reduction  of  wages,  which  the  board 
ujx)n  careful  examination  decreed.  The  award, 
although  bearing  hard  on  the  workmen,  was  con- 
scientiously—  of  course  not  cheerfully — abided 
by.  And  prior  to  and  since  that  time,  there  were 
the  usual  reductions  and  increase  of  wages  fol- 
lowing the  fluctuations  of  the  market,  I  mention 
these  large  reductions  of  wages  because  they  have 


ARBITRATION.  71 

been  the  motive  powers  of  causing  strikes  in  tlie 
past  history  of  English  labor.  At  the  present,  in 
the  manufacturing  regions  of  England  where 
these  boards  of  arbitration  are  in  vogue,  the 
struggle  of  labor  against  capital  is  made  before 
these  tribunals;  it  is  a  struggle  of  reason  and 
sense.  And  although  it  is  sometimes  decided 
against  the  workmen,  the  award  is  acquiesced 
in.  Advantages  are  often  gained  by  both  parties 
that  could  never  be  realized  from  a  strike  or 
lock-out. 

In  the  English  coal  regions  of  Northumber- 
land and  Durham,  and  in  the  South  Wales  dis- 
tricts,  the  peaceful  method  of  settling  trade 
disputes  has  been  applied  with  much  success. 
Attempts  at  arbitration  have  been  made  in  other 
districts,  with  not  very  brilliant  results.  These 
attempts  were  made  frequently  before  the  syste- 
matic arbitration  now  adopted  came  into  vogue. 
In  most  of  these  instances  eflPorts  at  arbitration 
have  been  made  by  the  men,  and  as  often  refused 
by  the  operators.  Notably  in  the  West  Yorkshire 
coal  strike  and  lock-out  as  far  back  as  1858,  wlien 
the  miners  offered  to  submit  to  arbitration,  and 
the  employers  not  only  declined,  but  refused  an 
interview  to  the  miners'  representatives.  And  in 
the  strike  of  the  Scottish  miners  the  same  thing 
was  done.      Prior  to  1873  the  rejected  efforts  at 


72  ARBITRATION. 

arbitration  in  the  coal  trade  were  caused  by  the 
mine  owners  and  masters.  But  there  has  been  a 
vast  improvement  in  the  public  sentiment  of 
operators  on  this  question  within  recent  years. 
Mr.  Weeks  reports  that  in  the  Northumberland 
coal  region,  wages  and  other  matters  of  dispute 
have  been  settled  by  arbitration.  Since  1873, 
under  the  promotion  of  Judge  Kettle,  a  syste- 
matic board  has  been  in  operation.  Mining 
customs  are  the  principal  subjects  of  discussion 
next  to  wages.  A  very  successful  arbitration  was 
accomplished  in  the  Northumberland  district  in 
1877.  In  May  of  that  year  the  operatives  received 
notice  from  their  emplo3^ers  that  there  would  be  a 
reduction  of  wages,  and  that  they  would  no  longer 
be  allowed  a  free  house  and  free  coal.  The  resuh 
was,  twelve  thousand  out  of  fourteen  thousand 
miners  struck.  They  were  very  bitterly  opposed 
to  arbitration,  and  withdrew  their  confidence  from 
such  of  their  leaders  as  favored  it.  Afterwards 
the  parties  agreed  to  arbitrate,  and  the  strike  was 
broken  l)y  the  award  of  a  board  of  arbitration, 
over  which  a  })rominent  member  of  Parliament 
presided  as  umpire.  In  Durham,  and  other  parts 
of  England,  there  have  been  arbitrations  in  the 
coal  trade  which  have  proved  boons  to  the  work- 
men. A  careful  examination  of  the  reports  on 
the  results  of  the  trade  tribunals  to  try  industrial 


ARBITRATION.  73 

disputes  in  this  braiicli  of  English  labor,  shows 
some  queer  facts. '^  In  some  quarters  it  seems 
that  the  intellectual  capacity  of  the  workmen  is 
not  yet  high  enough  to  abandon  the  brutal 
methods  of  a  strike.  Where  they  have  arbi- 
trated, it  is  with  reluctance  that  they  have 
accepted  awards;  in  some  instances  they  have 
openly  repudiated  them.  But  it  can  be  truth- 
fully said,  however,  that  these  cases  have  been 
rare. 

In  many  other  instances  the  system  of  arbi- 
tration and  conciliation  has  been  successfully 
applied.  The  lace  trade  of  Nottingham  is  con- 
trolled by  a  board  formed  on  the  plan  of  the 
hosiery  trade  at  the  same  place.  It  is  a  per- 
manent court  of  arbitration,  and  has  met  the 
warmest  expectations  of  its  founders.  The 
moving   sentiment   among   the  trade  unions,   as 

*In  South  Yorkshire  and  North  Derbyshire  Mr.  Mundella  has  arbitrated 
a  number  of  disputes  the  present  year.  At  Barnsly  an  eight  months'  strike 
was  settled  by  Mr.  Whitewell  and  Mr.  Mundella.  Tliere  have  been  successful 
arbitrations  in  the  coal  trade  at  Ashton,  Oldham,  North  Staffordshire,  Cleve- 
land, North  of  England,  and  Lancashire.  In  South  Staffordshire  a  sliding 
scale  was  adopted  in  1874.  but  its  working  was  not  satisfactory,  owing  to  a 
decline  in  coal  being  much  greater  than  was  expected.  At  Kadstock  there 
have  been  two  awards,  one  by  Mr.  Mundella  and  the  other  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Hughes,  M.  P.  In  North  Wales  there  have  been  several  arbitrations.  In  all 
these  cases  there  has  seemed  to  be  an  earnest  desire  on  the  part  of  the  leaders 
of  the  unions  to  hold  men  to  the  awards,  telling  them  that  they  were  bound 
in  honor,  and  threatening  to  withdraw  from  their  positions  if  the  men  were 
false  to  their  word.  The  Welsh  colliers  are  rough,  uneducated  men,  however, 
and  have  forgotten  honor  and  interest,  and  rejected  awards  that  have  been 
made;  and  at  present  arbitration  is  not  practiced  in  this  district.— U'cet*-' 
Report  on  English  Arbitration,  December,  1S7S. 


<4  ARBITRATION. 

well  as  the  capitalists,  is  that  the  time  of  strikes 
is  past.  Their  conclusions  are  heing  proved  by 
the  fact,  that  every  trade  union  in  England 
indorses  arbitration,  and  that  capital  is  sub- 
mitting to  trial  at  the  tribunals  where  labor  has 
an  equal  voice  with  its  employer.* 

Arbitration  in  England  that  has  been  written 
of  herein  has  been  purely  voluntar}^  arbitration. 
The  sj'stems  advocated  and  established  by  jNIr. 
Mundella  and  Judge  Kettle  are  extra  statu  to  r3\ 
But  within  a  few  3'ears  acts  have  been  passed 
which  have  been  intended  to  further  and  aid 
voluntary  arbitration.  The  first  of  these,  by 
Lord  St.  Leonards,  was  passed  in  181)7.  It 
operates  only  when  called  into  being  by  the 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  there  is  no  |)erraanency 
in  the  board  so  created.  Unlike  the  Mackinnon 
Bill  of  1859,  it  is  compulsor}'.  No  cases  of  arbi- 
tration have  been  reported  under  the  act,  and  it 
is  practically  obsolete.  The  law  of  1872,  by  Mr. 
Mundella,  known  as  "The  Arbitration  (Masters 
and  Workmen)  Act,  1872,"  is  practically  an  effort 
to  enforce  the  awards  arrived  at  by  voluntary 
arbitration,  and  makes  binding  on  all  parties  the 
agreements  entered  into  by  them.  In  the  "  Mem- 
orandum "    the  uses  of  the  act  are  summarized, 

which  1  quote  as  follows: 

i 

*See  Ai'i'ENDix  I. 


ARBITRATION.  75 

''1.  To  provide  the  most  simple  machinery 
for  a  binding  submission  to  arbitration,  and  for 
the  proceedings  therein. 

"  2.  To  extend  facilities  of  arbitration  to 
questions  of  wages,  hours,  and  other  conditions 
of  labor,  also  to  all  the  numerous  and  important 
matters  which  may  otherwise  have  to  be  de- 
termined by  justice  under  the  provisions  of  the 
Master  and  Servant  Act  of  1867. 

"  3.  To  provide  for  submission  to  arbitration 
of  future  disputes  by  anticipation,  without  waiting 
till  the  time  when  a  dispute  has  actually  arisen, 
and  the  parties  are  too  much  excited  to  agree 
upon  arbitrators." 

I  infer  from  the  expressions  of  the  press,  and 
from  the  experience  of  those  interested,  that  the 
cause  of  arbitration  in  England  has  been  but 
little  advanced  by  Parliamentary  legislation. 
That  most  powerful  of  all  statutes,  the  public 
sentiment  of  the  working  people,  has  given  it  its 
present  firm  and  advanced  position.  The  view 
of  Professor  Jevons,  that  arbitration  should  be 
free  from  the  law  and  lawyers,  seems  to  be  the 
opinion  of  the  practical  adherents  of  voluntary 
arbitration.  I  am  not  certain  but  that  they  are 
correct.  Not  that  the  "law  or  lawyers"  will  be 
of  any  injury,  but  in  the  large  majority  of  cases 
of   arbitration    between    capital    and    labor,   both 


7G  ARBITRATION. 

parties  are  usually  execution-proof.  It  deals 
purely  with  the  acts  of  men;  and  no  law  can  be 
passed  to  compel  men  to  do  something  they  do 
not  want  to  do.  In  voluntary  arbitration  the 
force  of  honor  and  sentiment,  public  and  private, 
is  the  only  Avrit  that  can  execute  an  award. 

The  history  of  English  voluntary  arbitration 
is  full  of  lessons  to  the  American  workingman. 
It  appeals  to  all  the  self-interest  as  well  as  the 
manhood  of  the  American  manufacturer.  The 
experience  of  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  has 
demonstrated  that  all  the  difficulties  which  arise 
between  capital  and  labor  are  capable  of  a  just 
and  inexpensive  solution.  That  under  the  in- 
fluence of  a  sentiment  which  opposes  strikes,  and 
favors  a  fair  submission  to  arbitration,  the  social, 
political,  and  financial  condition  of  the  emplo^'er 
is  far  advanced  al)ove  what  it  was  thirty  years 
ago. 


CHAPTER     VI. 


VOLUNTARY     ARBITRATION     IN     THE     UNI- 
TED   STATES. 


FIFTEEN  3^ears  ago  the  English  representa- 
tive at  Washington,  in  a  report  to  his  own 
government  on  the  condition  of  labor  in 
this  country,  wrote  as  follows: 

"There  are  few  countries  in  which  the  work- 
ingman  is  held  in  such  repute  as  in  the  United 
States  of  America. 

"  The  laboring  classes  may  be  said  to  embrace 
the  entire  xVmerican  nation. 

''  Every  man  works  for  a  living,  follows  a 
profession,  or  is  engaged  either  in  mercantile  or 
industrial  pursuits. 

"The  prosecution  of  the  humblest  calling  acts 
as  no  bar  to  promotion  in  the  social  scale. 

"The  lowl}^  citizen  of  to-day  may  aspire  to 
Presidential  honors  to-morrow."* 

*  Reports  Respeetiug  the  Condition  of  the  Industrial  Classes  in  Foreign 
Countries.  Presented  to  both  Houses  of  Parliament  by  Her  Majesty's  Com- 
mand.—Lo/ido/i,  1S70. 


78  ARBITRATION. 

The  most  intense  American  could  not  state 
more  happily  the  truth  concerning  our  people  in 
a  less  number  of  propositions.  The  expression 
that  the  American  nation  is  one  of  laborers  is 
emphatically  true.  There  is  no  permanent  class 
in  this  country  but  the  laboring  class.  All  our 
people  derive  their  origin  from  workers  of  muscle 
and  brain  —  from  those  who  in  3'ears  gone  by 
cleared  awa}'  the  forests,  and  planted  in  virgin 
soil  the  seeds  of  what  has  grown  to  be  a  tremen- 
dous testimony  to  human  genius  and  skill,  or 
from  those  of  later  growth  and  arrival,  who  have 
brought  from  other  lands  elements  of  strength 
that  have  helped  to  build  up  our  nationalit3\  It 
is  true  that  wealth  and  capital  have  grown  up 
among  this  great  people,  but  they  came  from  labor 
and  lal)or's  earnings.  No  royal  road  to  position, 
wealth,  or  i)Ower  is  found  in  this  republic,  where 
every  num  is  the  peer  of  his  brother.  The  only 
aristocracy  that  will  stand  is  the  aristocracy  of 
intellect.  The  voice  of  labor,  when  it  sends  forth 
its  demands  in  the  "  parliament  of  man,"  is  just 
as  powerful  as  the  capital  for  which  it  works. 
When  it  fails  to  obtain  the  rights  due  it  under 
justice  and  the  law,  the  fault  is  not  with  the 
people.  There  is  no  country  in  the  world  where 
there  is  less  excuse  for  the  workingman  laboring 
under   unjust  disadvantages   than   in   the  United 


ARBITRATION.  79 

States.  Here,  as  a  part  and  factor  of  the  "  j)Owers 
that  be,"  he  should  be  the  last  to  allow  himself  to 
be  deprived  of  his  rights. 

And  yet  we  find,  as  in  the  old  world,  whenever 
there  is  a  clash  between  money  and  muscle,  the 
latter  is  generally  worsted.  This  is  not  due  in 
any  manner  to  our  laws,  sentiment,  or  institu- 
tions, but  rather  to  a  failure  of  the  methods 
adopted  by  organized  labor  in  its  conflicts  with 
capital.  The  law  which  in  the  wager  of  battle 
makes  a  victor  of  the  stronger,  gives  capital  the 
advantage  in  a  mere  struggle  for  vantage  ground 
where  endurance  and  mone}^  are  the  only  weapons 
used.  As  long  as  American  labor  has  no  other 
way  by  'which  it  can  enforce  its  claims  but  by 
strikes,  just  so  long  will  it  be  at  the  complete 
mercy  of  capital.  And  as  long  as  the  manu- 
facturer, mine  operator,  and  mill  owner  refuse  to 
listen  to  the  argument  of  labor,  thus  long  will 
they  find  an  enemy  in  the  workingman. 

Capital  must  learn  to  live  not  for  profit  alone, 
but  should  remember  that  labor  is  its  handmaid, 
and  profit  at  the  unjust  expense  of  the  emplo^-ed 
is  a  moral  as  well  as  a  social  crime.  Labor  has 
much  to  learn  also:  the  first  is,  that  to  struggle 
with  capital  when  the  choice  of  weapons  is  left  to 
the  latter,  is  a  folly  and  will  always  be  a  failure. 
Labor,    by    the   equity    of    humanity,    should    be 


80  ARBITRATION. 

willing  to  accept  decreased  wages  with  decreased 
profits,  and  the  employer  should  be  equally  just 
by  paying  increased  wages  with  increased  profits, 
provided  alwa3^s  that  the  increase  or  decrease 
of  profits  is  not  the  result  of  unhealthy  competi-  I 
tion.  Just  and  safe  as  this  method  may  appear, 
it  never  enters  into  the  relationship  of  employer 
and  employed.  This  consideration  by  the 
workers  of  labor  and  capital,  with  the  advan- 
tages and  depressions  of  trade,  will  have  its 
fullest  and  fairest  application  under  a  system  of 
arbitration. 

The  principle  of  appealing  to  the  judgment, 
intelligence,  and  fair  play  of  a  tribunal,  without 
the  ceremony  or  technicalities  of  the  courts,  is 
peculiarly  adapted  to  the  American  workingman. 
And  it  is  strange  that  a  greater  number  of  peace- 
ful settlements  of  trade  disputes  in  this  manner 
has  not  been  made.  One  reason  is  that  there  is 
being  sowed  almost  daily  seeds  of  poison  among 
the  American  working  classes.  Those  professional 
labor  agitators  who  })reach  that  there  is  an  eternal 
and  irrepressible  antipathy  between  capit-al  and 
labor,  are  the  worst  enemies  of  arbitration  and 
the  workingman.  In  the  same  ranks,  and  with 
the  same  doctrine,  is  the  Anarchist,  the  Socialist, 
and  the  Communist  —  he  of  whom  Ebenezer 
Elliott,  the   Corn    Eaw  rhymer,   satirically  sung: 


ARBITRATION.  81 

"  What  is  a  Communist?     One  who  hath  yearnings 
For  equal  division  of  unequal  earnings; 
Idler  or  bungler,  or  both,  he  is  willing 
To  fork  out  his  penny  and  pocket  your  shilling." 

Their  wild  Utopian  schemes  are  seductive 
beside  the  plain  business  proposition  of  compro- 
mise. They  urge  strikes  when  there  is  no  ground 
for  differences  beyond  sentimentalism,  and  they 
find  folloAvers  too.  There  is  a  romance  and 
daring  similar  to  war,  that  makes  strikes  par- 
tially seductive.  They  are  "  fighting  capital,"  a 
shibboleth  which,  in  the  mouth  of  a  workingman 
who  never  works,  is  a  powerful  incentive  to  his 
brother  who  toils  and  sweats  for  his  bread,  to 
conjure  up  his  wrongs  and  "go  out."  The 
liberty  of  speech,  of  press,  and  of  action  have 
all  been  exhausted  in  sustaining  strikes,  and 
arbitration  in  its  systematic  character,  as  applied 
in  England,  has  had  but  a  limited  history  in  the 
United  States.  In  this  omission  the  injury  has 
been  to  the  industrious  labor,  which  has  paid 
dearly  for    it. 

The  idea  of  making  an  effort  for  a  peaceful 
solution  of  our  disagreements  is  almost  intuitive 
to  an  intelligent  man.  The  principle  of  co- 
operation for  self-protection  is  equally  so.  And 
every  feeling  of  confidence  in  the  justness  of  our 
cause  would   lead   us  to   submit  our  disputes   to 


82  ARBITRATION. 

some  honest  tribunal,  rather  than  to  the  dan- 
gerous and  uncertain  wager  of  battle  or  physical 
endurance.  That  principle  works  broader  and 
better  in  this'  country  than  in  England;  Ave  are 
emphatically  a  peaceful  court-settling  people. 
The  first  instinct  of  an  American  is  to  co-operate 
with  his  fellows,  when  all  desire  the  same  end; 
his  next  is  to  submit  to  the  will  of  the  majority 
or  the  court. 

The  history  of  industrial  arbitration  in  the 
United  States  is  very  short.  There  has  been  no 
general  effort  towards  the  establishment  of  per- 
manent and  «3'stematic  boards  of  voluntary  arbi- 
tration, but  the  principle  shows  itself  in  various 
trades  and  under  various  circumstances.  For 
years  there  has  existed  in  New  York  a  society 
called  the  Working  Woman's  Protective  Union. 
Its  object  is  "to  stand  between  the- woman  who 
unaided  is  battling  in-  the  world  for  a  living,  and 
those  who  would  defraud  her  of  what  she  has 
honestl}^  earned;  to  encourage  and  sustain  her  in 
this  desire  to  support  herself  and  others  who  may 
be  dependent  upon  her,  and  further  to  open  up 
new  fields  of  labor  and  thus  relieve  those  depart- 
ments of  industry  now  overcrowded."  It  has  no 
arbitrative  functions,  but  I  refer  to  it  as  an 
instance  of  a  powerful  mediator  between  employer 
and    em[)loyed.       It     has    uniformly    prevented 


ARBITRATION.  83 

strikes  and  lock-outs  by  referring,  in  the  name 
of  the  working  woman,  to  the  courts  for  pro- 
tection; and,  as  a  result,  this  method  of  arbitra- 
tion, forced  and  imperfect  as  it  is,  has  settled 
within  sixteen  \'ears  1,600  disputes,  and  $30,000 
have  been  recovered  from  employers  who  sought 
to  impose  upon  their  hands,  and  this,  too,  with- 
out the  cost  of  a  cent  to  the  women  themselves. 
Its  official  statements  claim  that  the  greatest 
accomplishment  of  the  Protective  Union  has 
been  the  simple  fact  of  its  existence.  The 
knowledge  of  the  working  women  and  their 
employers,  that  there  was  a  place  of  protective 
resort  where  fair  play  could  be  had,  dissipated 
again  and  again  the  possibilities  of  conflict  and 
wrong. 

The  first  and  most  notable  instance  of  perma- 
nent and  systematic  voluntary  arbitration  in  the 
United  States  is  that  connected  with  the  cigar 
manufactory  of  Straiton  tt  Storm,  of  New  York 
City.  This  establishment,  employing  over  two 
thousand  workmen,  has  since  1879  settled  all  its 
disputes  with  its  employes  through  a  board  of 
arbitration.  The  question  of  wages,  which  is 
always  a  difficult  one  for  boards  to  handle,  has 
been  successfull}'  arbitrated  by  this  board  time 
and  again.  The  tribunal  which  constitutes  this 
voluntary  court  of  capital  and  labor  is  composed 


84  ARBITRATION. 

of  fourteen  members.*  The  firm  is  represented 
by  two  of  its  members  and  five  foremen;  and  the 
workmen  by  three  hand  workmen,  two  rollers,  one 
bunch  maker,  and  one  packer.  Thus  it  is  that 
all  the  various  interests  of  the  employed  are 
represented  on  the  board.  Since  January,  1870, 
the  operation  and  results  of  the  board  of  arbitra- 
tion have  been  of  remarkable  fairness  and  suc- 
cess; and  the  language  of  the  employers,  in  a 
letter  to  the  writer,  after  five  years  of  practical 
trial,  is,  "  That  the  principle  of  arbitration  and 
the  results  following  therefrom  have  proven  ad- 
vantageous to  both  ourselves  and  our  employes, 
far  beyond  anything  that  we  had  hoped  from  it, 
at  its  inception."  Like  the  boards  at  Notting- 
ham and  the  other  parts  of  England,  the  court 
of  arbitration  has  not  only  served  to  settle  dis- 
putes, l)vit  it  has  brought  employer  and  workmen 
together  and  developed  in  each  a  better  humanity 
and  a  desire  to  do  justice  to  each  other.  The 
history  of  the  JStraiton  &  Storm  board  of  arbitra- 
tion can  be  summed  up  in  the  single  word, 
success;  and  it  has,  from  the  statements  of  the 
workmen,  been  a  social  and  moral  as  well  as  a 
financial  benefit.  Its  record  is  a  standing  and 
unanswerable  argument  against  those  who  claim 
that  arbitration  in  trade  disputes  is  impracticable. 

*See  ArPENDix  II. 


ARBITRATION.  (S5 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  exists  under  or  by 
virtue  of  no  law,  but  is  strictly  voluntar}^  —  the 
mutual  creation  of  the  workmen  and  their  em- 
ployers. Its  awards  are  intended  to  be  fair  and 
honest,  and  in  no  instance  have  they  been  re- 
pudiated. 

The  extensive  and  important  industries  of 
mining  and  iron  manufacturing  in  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania  have  called  into  operation  the 
principle  of  arbitration  more  frequently  there 
than  elsewhere  in  the  Union.  Various  attempts 
have  been  made  to  arbitrate  disputes  between 
employers  and  workmen  in  the  coal  trade  of  that 
State,  but  owing  to  a  lack  of  mutual  desire  for 
peaceful  settlements  on  both  sides  they  have  not 
been  successful.  The  same  can  be  said  of  the 
iron  trade. 

Since  1878,  through  the  efforts  of  Joseph  D. 
Weeks  of  Pittsburgh,  whose  report  on  voluntary 
arbitration  in  England  has  made  him  the  pioneer 
advocate  of  that  system  in  this  country,  popular 
sentiment,  both  of  capitalists  and  workmen,  has 
surely  drifted  to  a  favorable  consideration  of 
arbitration.  The  reason  of  the  general  failure 
of  efforts  at  arbitrating  in  Pennsylvania  has  been 
due  principally  to  the  fact  that  there  was  no 
system  in  the  boards;  and  again  they  were 
usuallv  selected   and   created  during  a  strike,  or 


86  ARBITRATION. 

impending  a  dispute.  The  contestants  were  in 
no  mood  for  a  peaceful  settlement  of  their 
troubles.  It  was  like  embassadors  of  peace 
coming  on  a  battle  field,  and  seeking  to  arrive  at 
terms  amid  the  smoke  and  din  of  conflict.  Suc- 
cessful arbitration  must  have  boards  that  are 
pre-existing  to  a  strike.  This  difficulty  has  been 
provided  for  by  recent  legislation.  The  law 
popularly  known  as  the  ''  Wallace  Act,"  on  ac- 
count of  its  author,  William  A.  Wallace,  of 
Clearfield,  which  became  a  law  April  30,  1883,  is 
the  first  piece  of  legislation  in  this  country  prac- 
tically grasping  the  principle  of  voluntary  arbi- 
tration. It  provides  for  the  creation  of  tribunals 
of  arbitration  in  the  iron,  steel,  glass,  textile 
fabrics,  and  coal  trades.  The  law  simply  gives 
ofiicial  birth  to  the  tribunal,  and  invests  it  with 
power  of  investigation  of  disputes  where  they 
are  voluntarily  submitted.  It  is  unquestionably 
the  first  effort  at  systematic  arbitration  ever 
proposed  in  this  country.  In  its  operation  and 
effects  it  has,  where  it  has  been  fairly  tested, 
proved  of  decided  advantage."^  Of  course,  the 
submission  of  all  (juestions  under  this  law  being 
purely  voluntary,  and  the  awards  having  no  legal 
or  compulsory  force,  its  principal  value  is  in 
giving  character,  ofiicial  bearing,  and  system  to 

*See  Appkndix  III. 


ARBITRATION.  87 

tribunals  acting  under  it.  Its  sessions  and  pro- 
ceedings are  under  the  eye  of  the    public. 

In  Ohio  there  have  been  various  attempts  at 
arbitration,  but  they  have  generally  been  during 
a  strike,  or  in  a  fixed  and  passionate  dispute. 
There  has  been  no  systematic  efibrt  made  to 
advance  the  principle  until  very  recently. 

In  1874,  in  the  Tuscarawas  Valley,  arbitration 
between  the  miners  and  operators  was  attempted, 
the  full  proceedings  of  which  are  recorded  by  the 
Mine  Inspector  in  his  report  for  1876.  The 
Miners'  National  Association,  to  prevent  a  strike, 
proposed  a  settlement''  by  arbitration.  It  was 
willingly  entered  into,  and  the  award  made, 
which  satisfied  all,  but  was  disregarded  by  one 
leading  coal  company,  and  the  arbitration  was  a 
failure.  In  1882,  according  to  the  Report  of  the 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  successful  arbitration 
was  accomplished  in  the  shoe  trade  at  Cincinnati. 
A  voluntary  board  of  arbitration,  similar  to  that 
of  Straiton  &  Storm,  of  New  York,  was  organized 
by  employers  and  emploj^ed;  and  it  is  stated  that 
it  successfully  settled  differences  in  work  and 
wages  during  its  existence. 

On  February  10,  1885,  the  Legislature  of  Ohio 
passed  without  a  dissenting  vote,  a  bill  prepared 
and  introduced  by  the  writer,  providing  for  the 
creation  and  operation  of  tribunals  of  voluntarj' 


88  ARBITRATION. 

• 

arbitration.*  The  law  contains  the  successful 
features  of  voluntary  arbitration  as  practiced  in 
England  and  on  the  Continent.  While  its  opera- 
tions are  purely  voluntar}-,  it  affords  a  cheap, 
honest,  and  effective  method  for  settling  trade 
disputes  without  strikes  or  lock-outs.  Its  semi- 
official character  makes  it  partly  a  public  board 
or  institution.  The  Ohio  law,  while  modelled 
after,  is  essentially  different  from,  the  "  Wallace 
Act"  of  Pennsylvania,  in  many  respects.  The 
most  important  difference  is  that  the  awards  of 
the  board  are  binding,  in  honor,  upon  the  parties 
thereto  without  their  subsequent  ratification. 
They  pledge  themselves,  in  Ohio,  upon  the  sub- 
mission of  the  question,  to  abide  by  the  award; 
in  Pennsylvania  it  requires  an  acceptance  before 
the  award  is  binding.  As  yet  there  has  been  no 
practical  application  in  Ohio  of  the  law;  but  it 
must  be  said  that  no  occasion  has  arisen  whereby 
the  law  could  be  tested.  Certainly,  with  Penn- 
sylvania, Ohio  is  most  in  need  of  the  application 
of  the  peace  principle  in  labor  disputes.  The 
conflict  in  the  Hocking  Valle}^  crippled  the  capital 
of  the  State,  and  almost  beggared  the  labor  of 
that  region.  The  cost,  yet  unknown  and  uncal- 
culated,  will  equal  the  tax  duplicate  of  a  great 
city. 

•See  Appendix  IV. 


1 


ARBITRATION.  89 

Ohio  has  too  many  interests  at  stake  to  over- 
look the  fatality  of  strikes.  The  question  of  how 
to  best  give  labor  and  capital,  within  her  border, 
a  "  fair  field  and  no  favor,"  is  of  the  highest 
importance  to  the  State.  By  the  census  of  1880, 
she  had  20,699  workshops,  and  in  them  there  was 
employed  173,609  workers;  her  labor  thus  em- 
ployed were  paid  $62,000,000  annually,  and  the 
capital  invested  to  employ  these  hands  and  pay 
such  wages  amounted  to  $189,000,000.  Her  coal 
measures  include  an  area  of  nearly  11,000  acres, 
and  the  yearly  production  therefrom  averages 
6,000,000  tons.  Her  average  annual  production  of 
iron  ore  is  nearly  200,000  tons,  and  in  1880  nearly 
550,000  tons  of  pig-iron  was  manufactured  within 
her  boundaries.  Can  it  be  said  that  Ohio  is  not 
interested  in  avoiding  trade  disputes?  And  is 
not  arbitration  a  vital  question  to  her  industries, 
her  capital,  and  her  labor? 

Yet,  notwithstanding  the  immense  value  that 
a  system  of  arbitration  would  be  to  the  industrial 
capital  of  the  United  States,  its  practical  applica- 
tion has  been  decidedly  limited.  But  as  years  go 
by,  and  time  and  experience  develop  the  futility 
of  strikes  in  bringing  benefit  to  labor,  the  ob- 
serving non-combatants  sustain  the  doctrine  that 
peaceful  arrangement  of  disputes  is  as  desirable 
and  reasonable  among  men  as  between  nations. 


90  ARBITRATION. 

There  is  a  large,  intelligent,  and  influential 
element  of  citizenhood  in  this  country  that,  upon 
questions  affecting  the  working  masses,  exercise  a 
most  potent  and  widespread  influence.  I  refer  to 
the  trades  unions  of  the  United  States.  No 
movement,  be  it  worthy  or  unworthy,  can  for  an 
instant  be  advanced  among  the  working  people 
unless  it  has  their  approval.  Therefore  it  be- 
comes a  pertinent  and  necessary  question,  to  ask. 
What  will  the  trades  unions  do  upon  the  matter 
of  voluntary  arbitration?  Will  they  oppose  it'.^ 
Do  they  approve  it? 


CHAPTER     \^  I 


TRADES    UNIONS    AND    ARBITRATION, 


AT.L  men  have  a  right  to  combine  for  the 
accomplishment  of  an  end  just  and  bene- 
ficial to  those  co-operating  for  that  pur- 
pose and  not  against  the  well-being  of  society.  I 
am  not  a  member  of,  nor  in  any  way  connected 
with  trades  unions,  but  I  understand  and  am 
satisfied,  that  their  ends  are  legitimate,  just,  and 
necessary.  There  may  have  been  in  their  history, 
and  there  undoubtedly  has  been,  disorder,  injus- 
tice, and  crime  associated  with  their  membership, 
but  they  are  to  be  held  no  more  responsible  for 
such,  than  political  meetings  and  associations  are 
for  violations  of  law  which  often  attend  them. 
The  evil  that  is  in  them  is  not  from  them,  nor 
of  them. 

"In  their  essence,  trades  unions  are  voluntary 
associations  of  workmen  for  mutual  assistance  in 
securing  generally  the  most  favorable  conditions 


92  ARBITRATION. 

of  labor.  This  is  their  primary  and  fundamental 
object,  and  includes  all  efforts  to  raise  wages  or 
resist  a  reduction  in  wages;  to  diminish  liours 
of  labor  or  resist  attempts  to  increase  the  working 
hours;  and  to  regulate  all  matters  relating  td 
methods  of  employment  or  discharge,  and  mode 
of  working.  They  have  other  aims  also,  some  of 
them  not  less  important  than  those  embraced  in 
the  foregoing  definition;  and  the  sphere  of  their 
action  extends  to  almost  every  detail  connected 
with  the  labor  of  the  workman  and  the  wellbeing 
of  his  everyday  life."* 

Both  employer  and  employed  have  a  perfect 
right  to  combine  to  further  their  interests,  pro- 
vided that  neither  interfere  with  the  just  and 
honest  sphere  of  the  other.  The  co-operation 
and  organization  of  labor  dates  from  early  his- 
tory, and  such  organizations  have  been  recom- 
mended by  the  past  years  of  experience.  The 
trades  unions  have  been  an  unquestioned  benefit 
to  workingmen  in  the  past.  At  no  time  have 
their  uses  and  influence  been  more  necessary 
than  at  tlie  present  day.  When  labor  and  capital 
approach  terms  of  peace  and  friendship,  the  more 
useful  will  be  the  trade  union  to  each.  Contrary 
to  the  impressions  of  numy,  there  has  been  no 
more  active  force  in  society  than  trades  unions,  in 

♦Conflicts  of  Labor  anrl  Capital.— Geo)-.ffe  Howell,  p.  l/,7. 


ARBITRATION.  03 

advocating  and  sustaining  the  system  of  peaceful 
arbitration  between  workmen  and  employers. 
The  wide  spread  notion  that  they  are  composed 
of  disturbing  and  capital-hating  demagogues  is 
simply  a  popular  delusion.  The  principles  and 
actions  of  trades  unions,  when  investigated  and 
studied,  clearly  prove  this. 

In  England  they  have  been  the  warmest  ad- 
vocates of  arbitration.  It  is  an  article  of  the 
constitution  of  almost  every  labor  association  in 
Great  Britain,  to  advocate  in  every  dispute  a 
submission  to  peaceful  adjustment;  and  it  is  this 
influence  that  has  made  voluntary  arbitration  a 
settled  question  and  a  practical  institution  in 
England. 

The  President  of  the  Trades  Unions'  Congress, 
which  represented  in  1877  nearly  700,000  mem- 
bers at  its  session  that  year,  in  his  address  said: 
"The  principle  of  appeal  to  facts  and  reasons 
instead  of  brute  force  is  rational,  and  at  once 
commends  itself  to  the  judgment  of  men.  There 
is  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  principle  of 
arbitration  for  settling  disputes  has  grown  very 
rapidl)'.  In  the  hosiery  trade  in  the  midland 
counties,  we  were  among  the  first  who  adopted  it, 
and  we  do  not  regret  having  done  so.  The  work- 
men have  sometimes  had  adverse  decisions;  but 
on  the  whole  it  has  worked  better  than  the  old 


\)4  ARBITRATION. 

mode.  It  is  gratifying  to  find  tliat  tlie  workmen 
generally  are  the  first  to  adopt  this  intelligent 
and  enlightened  system.  In  some  disputes  which 
have  arisen  in  the  country,  notably  the  West 
Lancashire  strike,  the  employers  refused  to  sub- 
mit to  arbitration,  although  the  men  suggested  it 
on  three  occasions.  My  own  experience  as  a 
member  of  one  of  these  boards  has  led  me  to  this 
conclusion:  if  a  board  be  properl}^  constituted, 
and  proper  arrangements  are  made  to  give  pub- 
licity to  the  facts  of  a  case,  the  result  generally 
will  be  a  righteous  award.  I  was  glad  to  hear 
that  the  National  Miners'  Union  have  decided  to 
offer  arbitration  in  every  dispute,  and  it  forms  a 
part  of  their  rules.  It  is  a  rational  arrangement, 
and  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if  all  would  adopt 
it.  I  think,  too,  arbitration  boards  should  be 
open  to  the  press  and  the  public.  Workmen 
have  nothing  to  fear  from  either  the  one  or  the 
other.  We  want  right  and  justice  to  rule,  and 
we  are  not  afraid  of  publicit}'.  When  men  and 
employers  gather  round  a  board  to  talk  over 
differences  and  try  to  adjust  them,  they  give 
evidence  of  their  manhood.  Beasts  and  reptiles 
fight  and  tear  each  other,  and  carry  out  the  law 
of  the  strongest,  but  men  reason  and  think,  and 
by  this  means  show  their  dignity,  and  arrive  at 
nmch    better    conclusions    and     far    less    costly. 


ARBITRATION.  95 

Boards  for  settling  disputes  would  not  do  away 
with  unions;  they  would  still  be  needed,  and 
under  increased  necessity  to  enforce  the  decision 
of  the  board  when  given  in  favor  of  the  work- 
men." 

At  the  present  time  it  is  estimated  that  in 
England  there  are  800,000*  members  of  trades 
unions.  Their  almost  unanimous  voice  is  for 
arbitration  in  industrial  pursuits.  And  it  is  a 
fact  in  the  history  of  arbitration,  that  the  initia- 
tory steps  towards  this  peaceful  method  was 
inauguiated  by  the  trades  unions. 

In  the  United  States  the  same  sentiment  pre- 
vails among  trades  unions  in  relation  to  arbitra- 
tion. The  number  of  members  is  much  greater 
in  this  country  than  in  England,  but  no  authori- 
tative estimate  can  be  given.  However,  every 
labor  organization  in  the  United  States,  with  the 
remarkable  exception  of  one,  openly  advocates 
and  recommends  arbitration  in  preference  to 
strikes  or  lock-outs.  The  exceptional  case  is  the 
Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron  and  Steel 
Workers,  an  organization  of  wide  spread  influ- 
ence and  large  membership.  Their  objection, 
though,  is  not  to  the  principle  of  arbitration,  but 
rather  to  its  practical  application.     The  Knights 

*  Trades  Unions;   Their  Origin  and  Objects,  Influence  and  EfBcacy.— Wm. 

Trail t,  London,  ISSt,. 


tin  ARHITRATION. 

of  Labor,  tlie  most  powerful  and  numerous  labor 
organization  in  this  country,  has  for  one  of  its 
cardinal  principles  the  expression  of  confidence 
in  just  arbitration,  and  always  recommends  its 
ai)})lication  in  place  of  a  strike.  So  it  can  be 
safely  said  that  in  the  trades  unions  of  the  United 
States  tribunals  of  arbitration  will  find  a  friend 
and  supporter. 

The  trades  unions  are  a  powerful  assistant  to 
honest  and  thorough  arbitration,  as  well  as  to 
a  just  examination  of  the  dispute.  Their  syste- 
matic method  of  collecting  and  preserving  the 
statistics  of  labor  makes  the  information  within 
their  knowledge  very  important.  They  are  the 
natural  channels  to  direct  the  arguments  and 
force  of  the  figures  of  wages  before  a  tribunal 
of  arbitration.  Again,  they  are  invaluable  as  one 
of  the  influential  factors  in  preventing  the  re- 
pudiation of  an  award.  The  experience  of  the 
past  iias  shown  that  there  has  been  less  repudia- 
tion of  awards  by  workingmen  than  by  em- 
ployers and  capitalists.  This  is  largely  due  to 
the  obligations  of  honor  promulgated  and  sus- 
tained by  the  discipline  of  the  trades  unions. 
Judge  Rupert  Kettle,  whose  experience  in  arbitra- 
tion has  l)een  referred  to,  says  that  he  has  found 
in  the  trades  unions  a  most  valuable  adjunct  to 
popular   sentiment   in   confirming   and   accepting 


ARBITRATION.  97 

an  award.     The  same  can  be  said  of  the  trades 
unions  in  this  country. 

I  have  dwelt  at  length  upon  the  relations 
of  trades  unions  to  arbitration  because  there  is  a 
wide  spread  and  delusive  idea  prevalent  among 
many  that  they  are  opposed  to  it,  and  their  prin- 
cipal object  is  to  foment  strife  and  encourage 
strikes.  Such  is  not  so.  And  if  capital  will  join 
hands  with  organized  labor,  the  day  of  strikes 
and  battles  between  employer  and  employed  is 
gone  forever  before  the  peaceful  and  sensible 
reign  of  arbitration.  And  in  doing  this  the  man 
of  money  will  lose  none  of  the  legitimate  control 
of  the  results  of  his  genius  and  thrift;  and  the 
man  of  labor  will  elevate  himself  into  the  domain 
of  a  broader  and  better  humanity. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX    I. 


ARBITRATION    IN    THE    ENGLISH    TRADES. 


The  following  report  on  English  arbitration 
was  made  by  Alsager  H.  Hill,  L.  L.  B.,  of  London, 
to  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
in  1877.  It  is  of  interest  as  showing  the  condi- 
tion of  the  various  trades  at  that  time  with 
reference  to  the  principle  of  arbitration  and 
conciliation. 

According  to  the  record  of  Mr.  Crompton,  the  English 
working  classes  have  given  the  most  favorable  reception 
to  the  proposal  for  courts  and  boards  of  arbitration  and 
conciliation.  As  far  back  as  1866,  Mr.  George  Odger 
introduced  the  subject  of  arbitration  at  a  large  meeting  in 
Sheffield,  and  then  expressed  the  opinion  that  strikes  were 
to  the  social  world  what  wars  were  to  the  political  world  — 
they  became  crimes  unless  they  were  prompted  by  absolute 
necessity.  Where  industries  are  not  localized,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  scattered  over  the  country,  arbitration  arrange- 
ments necessarily  become  more  difficult.  In  the  more 
highly  organized  of  these  trades,  the  question  of  wages 
is  not  so  often  raised  by  arbitration,  and  in  some,  very 
slight  alterations  have  taken  place  in  a  long  series  of  years. 


102  ARBITRATION. 

The  engineers  have,  as  in  the  case  of  the  nine  hours'  strike 
at  Newcastle,  in  1871,  so  ably  recorded  by  Mr.  John 
Burnett,  the  Secretary  of  the  Amalgamated  Engineers,  been 
willing  to  submit  questions  in  dispute  to  arbitration ;  but 
the  great  variety  of  operatives  employed  in  this  industry 
makes  the  system  more  difficult  to  adjust  satisfactorily. 
Mr.  John  Burnett  has,  however,  expressed  his  opinion  that 
"  a  scheme  of  arbitration  might  be  arranged  so  as  to  apply 
to  the  various  peculiarities  of  the  engineering  trade." 

The  brassworkers  have  made  an  experiment  in  arbitra- 
tion, but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  successful. 

At  Sheffield  the  employers  did  not  seem  disposed  to 
meet  the  overtures  of  the  men,  who,  through  the  carpenters, 
desired  to  form  a  board. 

The  bricklayers  cannot  be  reported  as  having  distinctl}"^ 
pledged  themselves  to  the  system  of  arbitration ;  but  Mr. 
Coulson,  the  Secretary  of  the  Operative  Bricklayers'  Society, 
has  endeavored  to  establish  boards  as  opportunities  have 
arisen. 

The  masons  have  not  as  a  class  shown  so  strong  a 
desire  for  arbitration  as  the  other  classes  of  building 
operatives ;  and,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Crompton,  "  they 
have  a  conservative  tenacity  which  tends  to  prevent  them 
from  changing  some  practices  which  cannot  stand  the  test 
of  criticism."  At  Bristol,  however,  a  code  of  rules  has  been 
drawn  up  between  the  Master's  Association  and  that  of  the 
Operative  Stone  Masons.  One  rule  provides  that  "  six 
employers  and  six  operatives  act  as  a  standing  committee 
to  hear  and  determine  any  minor  disputes  that  may  arise 
from  time  to  time  as  to  the  intention  and  working  of  the 
rules,  and  their  decision  shall  be  equally  binding  on  both 
parties,  and  no  suspensions  of  labor  shall  take  place 
pending  the  decision  of  the  conciliation  committee." 


ARBITRATION.  103 

Among  painters,  though  there  is  no  permanent  board 
in  the  trade,  a  code  of  working  rules  was  established  at 
Manchester  in  1870,  agreed  upon  by  six  operatives  and  six 
employers.  According  to  this  code,  there  must  be  six 
months'  notice  of  any  change,  which  is  settled  by  concilia- 
tion if  possible ;  if  not,  by  reference  to  some  arbitrator.  At 
Birmingham,  Coventry,  Leicester,  and  Nottingham,  arbitra- 
tion has  also  taken  place  in  this  branch  of  trade. 

In  the  potteries  a  board  of  conciliation  and  arbitration 
has  been  in  existence  since  1868  for  the  china  and  earthen 
ware  manufactories.  The  board  is  established  on  the 
model  of  the  Nottingham  boards.  "  The  President  presides 
over  such  meetings  of  the  board  as  are  not  convened  for  the 
purpose  of  arbitration  ;  but  a  standing  referee  presides  over 
all  arbitrations  by  the  board,  and  his  decision  is  final  in  the 
event  of  an  equal  vote."  Mr.  Crompton  points  out  that  the 
advantage  of  this  seems  to  be,  that  the  referee  is  not  called, 
or  arbitration  attempted,  until  the  board  has  failed  to  settle 
by  conciliation ;  in  which  case  there  is  to  be  one  final 
arbitration  arrived  at,  if  possible,  without  difference.  The 
award  is  made  subject  to  a  month's  notice  on  either  side. 
The  settlement  of  the  prices  of  labor  is,  however,  for  a 
year. 

In  the  chemical  trade  of  Northumberland  and  Durham, 
a  board  of  arbitration  and  conciliation  was  established  in 
1875  ;  but  it  is  of  too  recent  formation  for  any  results  to  be 
reported.  This  board  has  a  by-law  especially  directed 
against  strikes  and  lock-outs. 

In  the  boot  and  shoe  trade,  no  board  of  a  formal 
character  has  yet  been  established ;  but  a  resolution  has 
been  passed  at  Stafford  in  support  of  one  in  the  future.  At 
Leicester,  also,  steps  have  been  taken  recently  to  form  a 
similar  board. 


104  ARBITRATION. 

In  the  woollen  and  worsted  trades  of  Yorkshire,  there 
have  been  no  boards  of  arbitration  or  conciliation,  nor  has 
arbitration  'been  resorted  to  as  a  means  of  settling  disputes. 

In  the  East  Lancashire  cotton  trade,  there  is  no  system 
of  arbitration  or  conciliation ;  but  committees  composed 
of  employers  and  employed  are  appointed  from  time  to 
time  for  the  purpose  of  settling  disputes,  and  they  argue 
the  question  till  one  side  gives  in.  Mr.  Birtwhistle,  the 
Secretary  of  the  East  Lancashire  Amalgamated  Weavers' 
Association,  is  of  the  opinion  they  ultimately  will  have  to 
resort  to  arbitration. 

In  the  printing  trade,  a  court  of  arbitration  was 
established  in  1853 ;  but  the  court  broke  up  because  the 
men,  while  accepting  the  award  as  a  decision  in  an  actual 
dispute,  refused  to  accept  it  as  a  decision  binding  in  all 
other  cases  arising  out  of  past  contracts,  and  involving 
similar  questions. 

In  the  Typographical  Trades  Union,  arbitration  has 
been  suggested,  but  not  yet  adopted. 

At  Manchester,  a  question  in  dispute  has  been  settled, 
however,  in  conference  between  the  masters  and  men  in  the 
printing  trade. 

Among  unskilled  laborers,  with  the  exception  of  the 
laborers  who  are  represented  on  the  Birmingham  board  in 
building  trade,  no  settled  form  of  arbitration  has  yet  been 
arranged ;  and,  until  this  large  class  is  more  thoroughly 
organized  within  its  own  lines  by  union,  such  arbitration 
will  be  difficult,  if  not  indeed  impossible. 

Among  agricultural  laborers,  into  whose  ranks  the 
spirit  of  organization  is  fast  infusing  itself,  no  arbitration 
has  yet  taken  place ;  but  Mr.  Howard  Evans,  editor  of  The 
English  Lnborer,  Mr.  Crompton,  and  others,  have  written  in 
favor  of  the  adoption  of  the  system  in  future  disputes. 


APPENDIX    II. 


SPECIMEN  OF  AN  AMERICAN  ARBITRATION 

BOARD. 


I  give  below  the  Constitution  and  By-Laws 
of  the  Straiton  &  Storm  Board  of  Arbitration. 
It  is  the  first  systematic  application  of  the 
principle  in  this  country. 

ARTICLE    I. 

Section  1.  The  firm  of  Straiton  &  Storm  and  their 
workmen  herewith  agree  to  organize  a  Board  of  Arbitration, 
to  whom  shall  be  submitted  all  questions  of  wages  and 
such  other  matters  as  may  be  in  dispute  between  employer 
and  employe. 

ARTICLE    II. 

Sec.  1.  The  workmen  of  the  firm  of  Straiton  &  Storm 
shall  elect  at  a  regular  annual  meeting  Forty  delegates,  as 
hereinafter  set  forth. 

Sec.  2.  The  Hand-ioorkmen  shall  elect  fifteen  delegates, 
as  follows  :  Four  from  the  second  floor ;  Seven  from  the 
third  floor ;  Four  from  the  factory  on  Thirty-third  street. 


10C>  ARBITRATION. 

Sec.  o.  The  Rollers  shall  elect  eleven  delegates,  as 
follows:  Four  from  the  fourth  floor;  Four  from  the  fifth 
floor ;  Three  from  the  factory  on  Thirty-third  street. 

Sec.  4.  The  Bunch-makers  shall  elect  seven  delegates, 
as  follows  :  Three  from  the  fourth  floor ;  Three  from  the 
fifth  floor ;  One  from  the  factory  on  Thirty-third  street. 

Sec.  5.  The  Packers  shall  elect  seven  delegates,  as 
follows :  Four  from  the  sixth  floor ;  One  from  the  first 
floor ;   Two  from  the  factory  on  Thirty-third  street. 

Sec.  6.  Bunch-m<ikers,  to  be  eligible  as  delegates,  must 
be  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

Sec.  7.  The  annual  election  of  delegates  shall  take 
place  on  the  last  Monday  in  June.  Nominations  are  to  be 
made  one  week  before  election. 

Sec.  8.  Should  the  number  of  delegates  at  any  time 
be  less  than  ten,  they  shall  elect  by  ballot  and  for  the 
unexpired  term  the  whole  number  of  delegates,  as  provided 
for  in  Section  1,  Article  TI. 

Sec.  9.  Only  such  employes,  who  have  been  in  the 
employ  of  the  firm  six  months  previous  to  each  election, 
shall  be  eligible  as  delegates. 

Sec.  10.  Only  such  employes,  who  have  been  in  the 
emplo}'  of  the  firm  four  weeks  previous  to  the  annual 
election,  shall  have  the  right  to  vote  for  delegates. 

ARTICLE    III. 

Sec.  1.  One  week  after  the  annual  election,  the 
delegates  thereat,  chosen  by  the  different  branches  of 
employes,  shall  meet  se))arately,  organize,  and  elect  from 
their  rcsijective  delegates  their  representatives  in  the  Board 
of  Arljitration. 


ARBITRATION.  107 

Sec.  2.  The  Board  of  Arbitration  shall  consist  of 
fourteen  members,  as  follows  : 

Three    Hand-workmen 3 

Two  Rollers 2 

One  Bunch-maker 1 

One  Packer 1 

Two  Members  of  the  Firm 2 

Five  Foremen   5 

Sec.  3.  Immediately  after  the  election  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  workmen  to  the  Board  of  Arbitration,  the 
same  shall  meet  and  organize  by  the  election,  through 
ballot,  of  a  President  and  Secretary. 

Sec  4.  At  all  the  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Arbitra- 
tion, the  firm  of  Straiton  &  Storm  and  its  representatives 
shall  constitute  part  of  the  said  Board,  as  specified  and  set 
forth  in  Section  2,  Article  III. 

Sec.  5.  Should  vacancies  occur  in  the  Board  of 
Arbitration,  the  delegates  of  the  respective  branches  im- 
mediately shall  proceed  to  fill  such  vacancies  as  specified 
and   set  forth  in   Section  1,  Article   III. 

ARTICLE    IV. 

Sec.  1.  The  Board  of  Arbitration  shall  liear  such 
evidence  as  may  appear  to  be  necessary  to  a  j)roper 
understanding  of  the  questions  before  the  Board. 

Sec.  2.  All  questions  shall  be  decided  by  an  open 
vote.  At  any  final  vote,  the  names  of  the  members  of  the 
Board  shall  be  called  in  alphabetical  order,  and  the  vote  is 
to  be  given  in  "Aye  "  or  "  Nay." 

Sec  3.  The  decisions  of  a  majority  of  the  Board 
of  Arbitration  shall  be  binding  on  all  the  parties  concerned. 


108  ARBITRATION. 

Sec.  4.  All  decisions  affecting  the  interests  of  either 
employers  or  employes  must  be  htul  in  the  presence  of  a 
full   Board. 

Sec.  5.  Whenever,  at  any  meeting,  a  final  vote  is  to  be 
taken  on  any  main  question,  all  the  delegates  of  the 
different  branches  shall  be  present  at  such  meeting. 

Sec.  6.  If  a  member  of  the  Board  is  absent  at  any 
meeting  whereat  a  final  vote  on  any  main  (juestion  is  to  be 
taken,  the  place  of  the  absent  member  shall  immediately 
be  filled  by  the  resjjective  delegation. 

Sec.  7.  Whenever  any  question,  on  which  a  final  vote 
is  to  be  taken,  is  properly  before  the  board,  meetings  shall 
be  held  daily  until  the  said  matter  has  been  decided  upon. 

ARTICLE    V. 

Sec.  1.  At  a  tie  vote  on  any  main  question,  and  after 
five  ballots,  each  member  of  the  Board,  with  the  exception 
of  the  President,  shall  name  one  person,  who  there  and 
then  shall  join  the  Board  for  the  purpose  of  electing  an 
arbitrator. 

Sec.  2.  The  workmen  shall  confine  the  selection  of 
said  persons  to  the  delegates  of  their  respective  branches. 

Sec.  3.  The  firm  shall  confine  the  selection  of  said 
persons  to  persons  connected  with  the  firm,  either  as 
employers  or  employes. 

Sec.  4.  The  arbitrator  shall  be  selected  by  a  majority 
of  the  whole  twenty-seven  votes  cast. 

Sec.  5.  Pending  the  election  of  the  arl)itrator,  motions 
for  recess  or  adjournment  are  not  in  order. 

Sec.  G.  After  the  election  of  the  arl>itrutor,  the 
functions  of  tlic  tliirteen  ])ersons  chosen  as  temporary 
members  of  the    lioard,  as   speeiCicd    ;iiid   set    fortli    in   the 


ARBITRATION.  lUU 

first,  second,  and  third  Sections,  Article  V.,  shall  cease  with 
the  final  transactions  of  the  businsss  then  before  the  Board. 

AKTICLE    VI. 

Sec.  1.  If  the  firm  of  Straiton  &  Storm,  at  any  time, 
should  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  the  Board  of  Arbitra- 
tion no  longer  answers  its  purposes  —  namely,  the  fair  and 
equitable  adjustment  of  all  differences  between  their  em- 
ployes and  themselves  —  then  the  firm  shall  give  written 
notice  to  the  President  and  Secretary  of  the  said  Board 
of  Arbitration,  as  it  is  then  constituted,  of  their  unwilling- 
ness to  be  bound  by  the  decisions  of  the  said  Board.  Three 
months  after  such  notification  the  functions  of  the  Board 
of  Arbitration  shall  cease  to  be  binding  on  either  part3% 
and  the  said  Board  shall  be  abolished. 

Sec.  2.  If  the  employes  of  Straiton  &  Storm,  who  are 
governed  by  the  decisions  of  the  Board  of  Arbitration,  at 
any  time,  should  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  the  said 
Board  no  longer  answers  its  pur}»oses  as  specified  in  Section 
1,  Article  VI.,  and  a  petition  be  presented  to  the  firm  with 
the  signatures  of  one-third  of  such  employes  thereto  at- 
tached, demanding  the  abolition  of  the  said  Board  of 
Arbitration,  then  the  employes  governed  by  said  Board 
shall  vote  upon  the  question ;  if  it  should  appear  that 
two-thirds  of  their  number  favor  the  abolition  of  the  said 
Board  of  Arbitration,  it  shall,  at  the  expiration  of  three 
months,  cease  to  exist,  and  all  things  pertaining  thereto 
shall  be  null  and  void. 


110  ARBITRATION. 


BV=LAWS 


ARTICLE    I. 

Section  1.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to 
preside  at  all  meetings,  preserve  order,  and  decide  all  points 
of  parliamentary  law. 

Sec.  2.  Whenever  requested  by  a  majority  of  the  men 
interested,  the  Secretary  shall  notify  each  member  of  the 
Board  of  Arbitration  of  the  time  and  place  of  a  meeting 
of  said  Board  to  be  held  within  three  days  of  the  date  of 
such  request. 

Sec  3.  The  meetings  shall  be  called  to  order  within 
fifteen  minutes  of  the  appointed  time. 

Sec  4.  Seven  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for 
the  transaction  of  all  business,  except  the  casting  of  a  final 
vote  on  any  main  question. 

ARTICLE    II. 

Sec  1.  One  of  every  ffty  employes  shall  have  the 
privilege  to  appear  before  the  Board  of  Arbitration  to 
represent  their  case,  but  such  representation  shall  never  be 
less  than  three. 

Sec  2.  Such  representatives  may  present  their  views 
in  writing  or  otherwise. 

Sec  3.  If  verbal,  they  shall  confine  their  remarks  to 
the  subject  then  before  the  Board,  and  they  shall  not 
occupy  more  than  fifteen  minutes. 


ARBITRATION.  Ill 

Sec.  4.  In  no  case  shall  these  representatives  enter 
into  any  other  discussion  than  a  plain  statement  of  their 
case.  The  representatives  shall  be  bound  to  answer  all 
such  questions  as  the  members  of  the  Board  may  lay  before 
them. 

Sec.  5.  Such  representatives  shall  not  be  members 
of  the  Board  of  Arbitration  or  of  the  delegations  con- 
stituting the  same. 

Approved   at  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Arbitration. 

May  31,  1884. 


APPENDIX    III 


A  BUNDLE   OF  LETTERS  ON   THE   SUBJECT. 


The  following  letters  contain  expressions  on 
arbitration  in  trade  disputes,  and  were  addressed 
to  the  writer  in  the  winter  of  1884.  Some  of 
them  are  from  leading  officers  in  prominent  labor 
organizations,  and  others  are  expressive  of  the 
experience  and  observation  of  that  system. 

A.  Strasser,  President  of  the  Cigar  Makers' 
International  Union  of  America,  Avrites  from 
New  York  City  as  follows: 


1.  Tlie  intelligent  members  of  our  organization  favor 
arbitration  without  an  exception,  because  it  is  a  means 
of  ))reventing  hasty  and  impulsive  strikes. 

2.  Arbitration  is  always  preferable  to  a  strike  or 
lock-out ;  but  it  depends  on  the  consent  of  both  parties. 
In  Cincinnati,  where  our  members  are  locked  out,  since 
March  8,  1884,  the  manufacturers  have  refused  to  arbitrate, 
even  declined  to  come  to  a  conference. 


ARBITRATION.  113 

3.  We  have  no  regular  system  of  arbitration  in  force, 
hut  the  majority  of  the  unions  practice  the  same  on  all 
occasions. 

4.  The  best  method  of  jiaving  the  way  for  arbitration 
is  the  legislation  of  trades  unions  by  State  and  nation, 
which  will  strengthen  the  labor  organizations. 


Yours  very  respectfully, 

A.    STRASSER,  President. 

The  Grand  International  Brotherhood  of  Loco- 
motive Engineers,  through  one  of  its  chief 
officers,  replied: 

*  *  *  Your  letter  asking  for  my  opinion  concerning 
the  settling  of  disputes  between  capital  and  labor  by 
arbitration  is  received,  and  in  reply  will  say  that  I  regard  it 
as  the  best  and  most  just  method  of  adjusting  all  differ- 
ences that  arise  between  employers  and  employes.  As  to 
our  organization,  we  favor  it,  and  are  ready  at  all  times  to 
submit  our  differences,  that  we  cannot  settle,  to  a  board 
of  arbitration ;  and  I  believe  the  intelligent  workmen 
of  the  country  are  a  unit  in  favor  of  arbitration  in 
l)reference  to  strikes.  Yours  truly, 

P.   M.   ARTHUR,   G.  C.  E. 

Robert  Howard,  Secretary  of  the  Spinners' 
Union  of  Fall  River,  Mass.,  and  one  of  the 
Loirislative  Committee  of  the  Federation  of 
Organized  Trades  and  Labor  Unions  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  writes: 


114  ARBITRATION. 

*  *  *  I  am  entirely  opposed   to  comjiulsory 

arbitration  by  our  courts.  I  think  such  a  course  woulil  act 
detrimentally  to  the  interest  of  labor.  The  courts  are  too 
corrupt,  and  would  invariably  decide  in  favor  of  capital.  I 
find  it  so  in  this  vicinity.  *  *  *  Arbitration  I  ai)prove 
of  when  voluntary  between  employers  and  employes.  I 
firmly  believe  that  if  such  boards  were  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  conciliation  and  arbitration  in  the  event  of 
disputes,  90  per  cent,  of  them  would  be  settled  by  concilia- 
tion, rendering  arbitration  unnecessary. 

I  am  very  much  in  favor  of  voluntary  boards  of 
arbitration.  Respectfully, 

ROBERT  HOWARD, 

Sec.  Spinners^   Union. 

The  practical  operations  of  the  "  Wallace  Act" 
of  Pennsylvania  is  given  in  the  two  following 
letters.  One  is  from  an  operator  and  capitalist 
who  served  on  the  Coal  Trade  Tribunal  of  Arbi- 
tration in  the  Fifth  District  of  Pennsylvania;  the 
other  is  from  John  Flannery,  a  representative 
of  a  labor  organization,  and  also  a  member  of  the 
same  tribunal. 

William  A.  Mcintosh,  the  operator  member, 
writes : 


The  Coal  Trade  Tribunal  of  the  Fifth  Judicial  District 
of  Pennsylvania  was  licensed  under  the  Wallace  Act,  on 
the  19th  of  May,  1883,  and  consisted  of  five  representatives 
(jf  miners,  five  representatives  of  operators,  and  an  umpire 


ARBITRATION.  115 

previously  chosen  by  the  other  members  of  the  Tribunal, 
and  being,  as  required  by  the  act,  their  unanimous  choice. 

The  creation  of  this  Tribunal  was  during  a  strike,  the 
operators  offering  three  cents  per  bushel  for  mining,  and 
the  miners  demanding  three  and  a  half  cents. 

After  several  lengthy  discussions  it  became  apparent 
that  an  agreement  could  not  be  arrived  at  without  con- 
siderable delay ;  and,  as  an  earnest  of  good  intentions,  it 
was  ordered  that  the  miners  resume  work  immediately,  at  a 
price  to  be  thereafter  fixed  by  the  Tribunal,  the  price  to 
date  back  to  the  time  of  the  resumption  of  work. 

Work  was  generally  resumed  without  delay.  Com- 
mittees, consisting  of  an  ecjual  number  of  each  side,  were 
appointed  to  gather  such  statistics  as  might  have  a  bearing 
on  the  question  of  prices  of  mining.  These  committees 
reported  at  a  meeting  held  June  11,  the  reports  being 
epitomes  of  information  obtained  by  the  committees,  and 
showing  average  cost  of  production  and  selling  price 
of  coal  during  the  three  years  immediately  preceding. 

Several  meetings  of  the  Tribunal  were  held ;  but, 
failing  to  agree  upon  a  price  to  be  paid  for  mining,  it  was 
decided  that  the  umpire  be  called  in.  The  question  in 
dispute  was  submitted  to  him ;  and,  after  hearing  the 
arguments  of  both  sides,  he  made  his  award;  viz.,  that  the 
price  to  be  paid  for  mining  should  be  three  and  a  quarter 
cents  per  bushel. 

This  award,  while  apparently  a  disappointment  to  both 
sides,  was  accepted  and  concurred  in  during  the  time  it  was 
intended  to  cover;  viz.,  until  October  1,  1883. 

In  September  following,  this  Tribunal  met  for  the 
purpose  of  fixing  upon  the  price  to  be  paid  for  mining  from 
October  1,  1883,  to  April  1,  1884,  the  operators  offering  three 


116  ARBITRATION. 

and  a  quarter  cents  and  the  miners  demanding  three  and 
three-quarter  cents  per  bushel. 

Being  unable  to  agree,  the  services  of  the  unii)ire  were 
requested.  After  hearing  the  arguments  on  both  sides,  the 
umpire  made  his  award ;  viz.,  that  the  price  of  mining 
should  be  three  and  a  half  cents  per  bushel.  This  award 
did  not  appear  to  be  satisfactory  to  all,  but  was  accepted. 

In  March  of  1884,  several  meetings  of  the  Tribunal 
were  held  to  fix  upon  the  price  to  be  paid  for  mining  from 
April  1,  1884,  till  October  1,  1884,  resulting  in  the  adoption 
of  the  rate  of  three  cents  per  bushel,  without  the  aid  of  the 
umpire.  To  many  miners  this  action  was  unsatisfactory, 
although  the  price  was  generally  accepted  ;  and  when  the 
new  Tribunal  was  created,  not  one  of  the  miners'  representa- 
tives on  the^  first  Tribunal  was  selected  to  serve  on  the 
second. 

This  ended  the  work  of  the  first  Tribunal ;  and,  while 
there  were  many  hard  word  tilts  between  miner  and 
operator,  I  believe  all  were  actuated  with  a  sincere  desire  to 
do  equal  justice,  and  that  which  would  result  in  the  mutual 
good  of  all  concerned.  While  the  awards  of  the  Tribunal 
were  not  entirely  satisfactory  to  both  sides,  as  indeed  it  is 
hardly  to  be  expected  that  they  always  will  be,  I  believe  the 
interests  of  both  miners  and  operators  were  promoted,  as 
strikes  and  lock-outs  were  avoided,  and  this  is,  frequently, 
of  more  importance  than  the  matter  of  a  small  difference  in 
price  of  mining. 

In  conse(iuence  of  unavoidable  delays,  the  present 
Tribunal  was  not  licensed  until  October  4,  1884,  four  of  the 
operators'  representatives  on  the  first  Tribunal  being  chosen 
on  the  second,  but  none  of  the  former  representatives  of  the 


ARBITRATION.  117 

The  present  Tribunal  has  decided  that  the  price  of 
mining  in  effect  prior  to  October  1,  1884,  shall  continue 
indefinitely,  and  that  the  Tribunal  shall  meet  for  the  pur- 
pose of  considering  the  question  of  price  of  mining  when- 
ever three  or  more  members  signify  that  to  be  their  wish. 

Having-  been  connected  with  all  efforts  here  to  settle 
differences  between  employers  and  employes  in  the  coal 
trade,  by  arbitration,  I  would  call  your  attention  to  one 
very  valuable  provision  of  the  Wallace  Act,  one  which  I 
regard  as  essential  to  success ;  viz.,  the  provision  that  the 
umpire  shall  be  chosen  before  any  other  steps  are  taken, 
except  the  choosing  of  the  members  of  the  tribunal  proper. 

In  all  previous  attempts  at  arbitration  in  the  coal 
trade,  the  plan  has  been  to  choose  the  representatives  of  the 
two  sides,  who,  if  they  could  not  agree  regarding  the  point 
at  issue,  were  to  choose  the  umpire  to  decide. 

The  result  in  every  case  has  been  that  the  arbitrators 
failed  to  agree,  and  such  a  spirit  of  distrust  was  engendered 
that  they  would  not  agree  upon  an  umpire ;  hence  failure. 

In  order  to  insure  success  it  is  also  necessary  that  all 
arbitrators  should  be  fully  empowered  to  do  what  they  may 
deem  best  for  all  concerned  without  the  fear  of  the  dis- 
pleasure of  those  they  represent,  in  case  the  conclusions 
arrived  at  should  not  be  in  full  harmony  with  the  ideas 
of  their  constituents. 

I  have  an  abiding  faith  that  arbitration  will  grow  to  be 
the  popular  method  of  settling  disputes  between  capital 
and  labor;  and  that  while  each  unsuccessful  attempt  may 
render  the  next  attempt  more  diflicult,  it  will  also  serve 
to  bring  to  light  the  obstacles  in  the  way,  which  being 
discerned  will  be  the  more  readily  overcome. 
Yours  truly, 

WM.   A.    McINTOSH. 


118  ARBITRATION. 

John     Flanneiy,    Secretary    of    the    Miners' 
Union,  under  date  of  December  22,  1884,  says: 


In  reply  to  yours  of  the  ISth  inst.,  on  arbitration,  its 
work,  etc.,  I  can  say  that  it  has  operated  here  in  accordance 
witli  the  act  of  1883  known  as  the  "Voluntary  Trade 
Tribunal  Act,"  and  has  done  more  good  during  the  last 
twenty  months  for  the  railroad  miners  and  operators  than  it 
gets  credit  for  doing.  There  has  been  no  strikes,  where 
there  used  to  be  every  summer,  lasting  from  two  to  five 
months.  There  has  been  no  "exiles"  made  by  being 
"victimized"  for  taking  active  parts  in  strikes  to  keej) 
wages  up.  The  trade,  though  dull  this  year,  has  sutrored 
none  through  uncertainty,  and  contracts  have  been  kept 
that  properly  belong  to  this  district. 

If  justice  were  done  to  arbitration,  which  only  can  l)e 
where  there  is  strong  and  systematic  organization  on  both 
sides,  it  would  soon  become  a  subject  for  national  legisla- 
tion. I  would  favor  a  system  that  would  make  awards  be 
enforced,  instead  of  voluntary,  but  I  have  the  name  of  an 
extremist  in  my  advocacy  of  that  system. 

The  one  great  drawback  is  that  any  one-horse  employer 
may  break  the  price  awarded,  and  peaceable  and  fair 
employers  must  follow  suit,  or  suffer  to  be  underbid  in  the 
market  and  lose  contracts,  to  the  gain  of  the  adventurer 
and  foe  of  peace  and  honesty  in  labor  matters. 

Too  much  cannot  be  said  favorable  to  this  grand  system 
when  put  into  pro})er  shape.  If  one  could  spare  time  to 
give  you  the  figures  to  show  the  thousands  sacrificed  by 
capital  to  subjugate  labor,  and  the  fabulous  amount  lost  by 


ARBITRATION.  119 

labor  to  outfight  capital,  not  to  speak  of  the  suffering 
of  innocent  souls  by  hunger  and  cold,  it  would  surprise 
you,  just  for  this  district  alone.  Then,  what  is  gained? 
There  is  no  principle  established  to  benefit  trade  or 
humanity  ;  and  the  justice  of  the  result  established  by  a 
strike  is  always  questionable,  because  it  is  might  against 
right,  with  merit  and  justness  left  out  of  the  controversy. 

The  great  object  is  to  enforce  the  awards,  which  cannot 
be  done  without  a  strong  and  well  disciplined  organization 
among  workmen,  and  the  same  of  employers,  who  go  in  to 
do  right  and  to  sit  down  summarily  on  wrong  doing.  An 
efficient  agency  established  by  national  or  State  law,  is  the 
great  requisite  of  the  day  to  aid  in  this  work,  to  raise 
humanity  out  of  the  slough  of  strikes.  *  *  *  * 
Yours  truly, 

JOHN    FLANNERY. 


APPENDIX    IV. 


THE    OHIO    ARBITRATION    ACT. 


The  Constitution  of  Ohio  confers  power  upon 
the  Legishiture  to  establish  courts  of  arbitration 
and  conciliation,  but  they  must  be  voluntary 
tribunals.     Section  19,  Article  IV.,  says: 

The  General  Assembly  may  establish  courts  of  con- 
ciliation, and  prescribe  their  powers  and  duties ;  but  such 
courts  shall  not  render  final  judgment  in  any  case,  excei)t 
upon  submission,  by  the  parties,  of  the  matter  in  dispute, 
and  their  agreement  to  abide  such  judgment. 

The  following  is  now  the  law  in  Ohio  on   this 

subject: 

AN    ACT 

To  antliorize  the  creation  and  to  provide  for  the  operation  of 
tribunals  of  vohintary  arbitration  to  adjust  in(histrial  (hspntes 
between  employers  and  employed. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  That  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  each 
county  or  a  .Judge  thereof  in  vacation,  sliall  liavc  th(>  {)ower, 
and  upon  the  presentation  of  the  petition,  or  of  the  agree- 


ARBITRATION.  121 

ment  horeinafter  named,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  court, 
or  a  Judge  thereof  in  vacation,  to  issue  in  the  form  herein- 
after named,  a  license  or  authority  for  the  establishment 
within  and  for  each  county  of  tribunals  for  voluntary 
arbitration  and  settlement  of  trade  disputes  between 
employers  and  employed  in  the  manufacturing,  mechanical, 
or  mining  industries. 

Sec.  2.  The  said  petition  or  agreement  shall  be  sub- 
stantially in  the  form  hereinafter  given,  and  the  petition 
shall  be  signed  by  at  least  forty  persons  employed  as 
workmen  and  by  four  or  more  separate  firms,  individuals, 
or  corporations  within  the  county,  or  by  at  least  four 
employers,  each  of  whom  shall  employ  at  least  ten  work- 
men, or  by  the  representative  of  a  firm,  corporation,  or 
individual  employing  not  less  than  forty  men  in  their  trade 
or  industry,  provided,  that  at  the  time  the  petition  is 
presented,  the  Judge  Ijefore  whom  said  petition  is  presented, 
may,  upon  motion,  require  testimony  to  be  taken  as  to  the 
representative  character  of  said  petitioners,  and  if  it 
appears  that  the  said  petitioners  do  not  represent  the  will 
of  a  majority,  or  at  least  one-half  of  each  party  to  the 
dispute,  the  license  for  the  establishment  of  the  said 
tribunal  may  be  denied,  or  may  make  such  other  order  in 
this  behalf,  as  to  him  shall  seem  fair  to  both  sides. 

Sec.  3.  If  the  said  petition  shall  be  signed  by  the 
requisite  number  of  both  employers  and  workmen,  and  be 
in  proper  form  and  contain  the  names  of  the  persons  to 
compose  the  tribunal,  being  an  equal  number  of  employers 
and  workmen,  the  Judge  shall  forthwith  cause  to  be  issued 
a  license  substantially  in  the  form  hereinafter  given,  author- 
izing the  existence  of  such  tribunal  and  fixing  the  time  and 
place  of  the  first  meeting  thereof,  and  an  entry  of  the 
license  so  granted  shall  be  made  upon  the  journal  <>f  tlie 


1 22  ARBITRATION. 

Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  tlie  county  in  which  the  petition 
originated. 

Sec.  4.  Said  tribunal  shall  continue  in  existence  for 
one  3'ear  from  the  date  of  the  license  creating  it,  and  may 
take  jurisdiction  of  any  disjnite  between  employers  and 
workmen  in  any  mechanical,  manufacturing,  or  mining 
industry  or  business,  who  shall  have  petitioned  for  the 
tribunal,  or  have  been  represented  in  the  petition  therefor, 
or  may  submit  their  disputes  in  writing  to  such  tribunal  for 
decision.  Vacancies  occurring  in  the  membership  of  the 
tribunal  shall  be  filled  by  the  Judge  or  court  that  licensed 
said  tribunal,  from  three  names  presented  by  the  members 
of  the  tribunal  remaining  of  that  class  in  which  the 
vacancies  occur.  The  removal  of  any  member  to  an 
adjoining  count}^  shall  not  cause  a  vacancy  in  either  the 
tribunal  or  the  post  of  umpire.  Disputes  occurring  in  one 
county  may  be  referred  to  a  tribunal  already  existing  in  an 
adjoining  county.  The  place  of  umpire  in  any  of  said 
tribunals  and  vacancies  occurring  in  such  place,  shall  only 
be  filled  by  the  mutual  choice  of  the  whole  of  the  re]>re- 
sentatives,  of  both  employers  and  workmen  constituting 
the  tribunal,  immediately  upon  the  organization  of  the 
same.  The  umpire  shall  be  called  upon  to  act  after  dis- 
agreement is  manifested  in  the  tribunal  by  failure  during 
three  meetings  held  and  full  discussion  had.  His  award 
shall  be  final  and  conclusive  ui)on  such  matters  only  as  are 
submitted  to  him  in  writing  and  signed  by  the  whole  of  the 
members  of  the  tribunal,  or  Ity  parties  submitting  the 
same. 

Sec.  5.  The  said  tribunal  shall  consist  of  not  less  than 
two  employers  or  their  rei)resentatives,  and  two  worknien. 
The  exact  number,  which  shall  in  each  case  constitute  the 
tribunal,  shall  be  inserted  in  the  petition  or  agreement,  and 


ARBITRATION.  1 23 

they  shall  be  named  in  the  license  issued.  The  said 
tribunal,  when  convened,  shall  be  organized  by  the  selection 
of  one  of  their  number  as  chairman  and  one  as  secretary, 
who  shall  be  chosen  by  a  majority  of  the  members,  or 
if  such  majority  cannot  be  had  after  two  votes,  then  by 
secret  ballot,  or  by  lot,  as  they  prefer. 

Sec.  6.  The  members  of  the  tribunal  shall  receive  no 
compensation  for  their  services  from  the  city  or  county,  but 
the  expenses  of  the  tribunal,  other  than  fuel,  light,  and  the 
use  of  the  room  and  furniture,  may  be  paid  by  voluntary 
subscription,  which  the  tribunal  is  authorized  to  receive 
and  expend  for  such  purposes.  The  sessions  of  said 
tribunal  shall  be  held  at  the  county  seat  of  the  county 
where  the  petition  for  the  same  was  presented,  and  a  room 
in  the  Court  House  for  the  use  of  said  tribunal,  shall  be 
provided  by  the  County  Commissioners. 

Sec.  7.  When  no  umpire  is  acting,  the  Chairman 
of  the  tribunal  shall  have  power  to  administer  oaths  to  all 
witnesses  who  may  be  produced,  and  a  majority  of  said 
tribunal  may  provide  for  the  examination  and  investigation 
of  books,  documents,  and  accounts  pertaining  to  the 
matters  in  hearing  before  the  tribunal,  and  belonging  to 
either  party  to  the  dispute ;  provided,  that  the  tribunal  may 
unanimously  direct  that  instead  of  producing  books, 
papers,  and  accounts  before  the  tribunal,  an  accountant 
agreed  upon  by  the  entire  tribunal,  may  be  appointed  to 
examine  such  books,  papers,  and  accounts,  and  sucli  ac- 
countant shall  be  sworn  to  well  and  truly  examine  such 
books,  documents,  and  accounts  as  may  be  presented  to 
him,  and  to  report  the  results  of  such  examination  in 
writing  to  said  tribunal.  Before  such  examination  the 
information  desired  and  required  by  the  tribunal  shall  be 
plainly  stated  in  writing  and  presented  to  said  accountant, 


124  ARBITRATION. 

which  statement  shall  be  signed  by  the  members  of  said 
tribunal,  or  by  a  majority  of  each  class  thereof.  Attorneys 
at  law  or  other  agents  of  either  ))arty  to  the  dispute,  shall 
not  be  permitted  to  appear  or  take  part  in  any  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  tribunal,  or  before  the  umpire. 

Sec.  8.  When  the  uminre  is  acting  he  shall  preside, 
and  he  shall  have  all  the  powers  of  the  Chairman  of  the 
tribunal ;  and  his  determination  upon  all  questions  of 
evidence,  or  other  questions,  in  conducting  the  inquiries 
then  pending,  shall  be  final.  Committees  of  the  tribunal 
consisting  of  an  equal  number  of  each  class  may  be 
constituted  to  examine  into  any  question  in  dispute  be- 
tween employers  and  workmen  which  may  have  been 
referred  to  said  committee  by  the  tribunal,  and  such  com- 
mittee may  hear  and  settle  the  same  finally,  when  it  can  be 
done,  by  a  unanimous  vote ;  otherwise  the  same  shall  be 
reported  to  the  full  tribunal,  and  there  be  heard,  as  if  the 
question  had  not  been  referred.  The  said  tribunal,  in 
connection  with  the  umpire,  shall  have  power  to  make, 
ordain,  and  enforce  rules  for  the  government  of  the  body 
when  in  session,  to  enable  the  business  to  be  proceeded  with 
in  order,  and  to  fix  its  sessions  and  adjournments ;  but  such 
rules  shall  not  conflict  with  this  statute,  nor  with  any 
of  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  Ohio. 

Sec.  9.  Before  the  umpire  shall  proceed  to  act,  the 
question  or  questions  in  dispute  shall  be  plainly  defined  in 
writing,  and  signed  by  the  members  of  the  tribunal,  or  a 
majority  thereof  of  each  class,  or  by  the  parties  submitting 
the  same ;  and  such  writing  shall  contain  the  submission 
of  the  decision  thereof  to  the  umpire  by  name,  and  shall 
provide  that  his  decision  thereon,  after  hearing,  shall  be 
final.  The  umpire  shall  be  sworn  to  impartially  decide  all 
questions  that  may  be  submitted  to  him  during  his  term 


ARBITRATION. 


125 


of  office.  The  submission  and  his  award  may  be  made  in 
the  form  hereinafter  given,  and  said  umpire  must  make  his 
award  within  ten  days  from  the  time  the  ([Uestion  or 
questions  in  dispute  are  submitted  to  him.  Said  award 
shall  be  made  to  the  tribunal ;  and  if  the  award  is  for  a 
specific  sum  of  money,  said  award  ma}'  be  made  a  matter 
of  record  by  filing  a  copy  thereof  in  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  of  the  county  wherein  the  tribunal  is  in  session. 
When  so  entered  of  record  it  shall  be  final  and  conclusive, 
and  the  proper  court  may,  on  motion  of  any  one  interested, 
enter  judgment  thereon ;  and  when  the  award  is  for  a 
specific  sum  of  money,  may  issue  final  and  other  process  to 
enforce   the   same. 

Sec.  10.  'The  form  of  the  joint  petition  or  agreement 
pra3ang  for  a  tribunal  under  this  act  shall  be  as  follows  : 

To  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of County  {or  to  a 

Judge  thereof,  as  the  case  may  be): 

The  subscribers  hereto,  being  the  number  and  having 
the  (jualifications  required  in  this  proceeding,  being  desirous 
of  establishing  a  tribunal  of  voluntary  arbitration  for  the 

settlement  of  disputes  in  the    (here  name  the 

branch  of  industiy)  trade,  and  having  agreed  upon  A,  B,  C, 
D  and  E,  representing  the  employers,  and  G,  H,  I,  J  and  K, 
representing  the  workmen,  as  members  of  said  tribunal, 
who  each  are  qualified  to  act  thereon,  pray  that  a  license  for 

a  tribunal  in  the trade  may  be  issued  to  said 

persons  named  above. 


EMPLOYERS. 


RESIDENCE. 


Nl^.MBER 
E.MYF.OVES. 


126 


ARBITRATION. 


EMPLOYES. 


NAMES. 


KESIUENCE. 


BV  WHOM  EMPLOYED. 


Sec.  11.     The  license  to  be  issued  upon  such  petition, 
may  be  as  follows : 


State  of  Ohio,         } 
County, 


-  ss. 


Whereas,  The  joint  petition  and  agreement  of  four 
employers  (or  representatives  of  a  firm,  corporation,  or  indi- 
vidual, employing  forty  men,  as  the  case  may  be),  and  forty 
workmen  has  been  presented  to  this  court,  (or  if  to  a  judge 
in  vacation,  so  state),  praying  the  creation  of  a  tribunal 
of  voluntary  arbitration  for  the  settlement  of  disputes  in 

the trade  within  this  county,  and  naming  A,  B, 

C,  D,  and  E,  representing  the  employers,  and  G,  H,  I,  J, 
and  K,  representing  the  workmen.  Now,  in  pursuance 
of  the  statute  for  such  case  made  and  provided,  said  named 
persons  are  hereby  licensed  and  authorized  to  be  and  exist 
as  a  tribunal  of  voluntary  arbitration  for  the  settlement 
of  disputes  between  employers  and  workmen  for  the  period 
of  one  year  from  this  date,  and  they  shall  meet  and  organize 
on  the ....  day  of ,  A.  D at 

Signed,  this ....   day  of ,  A.  D 

[  Signature.  ] , 

Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  .  . .  County. 

Sec.  12.  When  the  tribunal  agrees  to  submit  a  matter 
in  controversy  to  the  umpire,  it  may  be  in  form  as  follows: 

We,  A,  B,  C,  I),  and  K,  representing  employers,  and  G, 
H,  I,  .J,  and  K,  representing  workmen,  composing  a  tri])unal 


ARBITRATION.  1 27 

of  voluntary  arbitration,  hereby  submit  and  refer  unto  the 

umpirage  of  L.  (the  umpire  of  the  tribunal  of  the trade,) 

the  following  subject-matter,  namely  :  [Here  state  fully  and 
clearly  the  mutter  submitted.]  And  we  hereby  agree  that  his 
decision  and  determination  upon  the  same  shall  be  binding 
upon  us,  and  final  and  conclusive  upon  the  question  thus 
submitted ;  and  we  pledge  ourselves  to  abide  by  and  carry 
out  the  decision  of  the  umpire  when  made. 

Witness  our  names  this ....  day  of ,  A.  D 

[  Signatures.  ] 

Sec.  13.  The  umpire  shall  make  his  award  in  writing 
to  the  tribunal,  stating  distinctly  his  decisions  on  the 
subject-matter  submitted.  And  when  the  award  is  for  a 
specific  sum  of  money,  the  umpire  shall  forward  a  copy 
of  the  same  to  the  clerk  of  the  proper  court. 

Sec.  14.  This  act  shall  be  in  force  from  and  after  its 
passage. 


^ 


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